Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
19:1 KI YACHRIT YHVH ELOHEYCHA ET HA GOYIM ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA ET ARTSAM VIYRISHTAM VE YASHAVTAM VE AREYHEM U VE VATEYHEM
כִּי יַכְרִית יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ אֶת אַרְצָם וִירִשְׁתָּם וְיָשַׁבְתָּ בְעָרֵיהֶם וּבְבָתֵּיהֶם
KJ (King James translation): When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
BN (BibleNet translation): When YHVH your god dispossesses the nations, whose land YHVH your god is giving you, and you succeed them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses...
19:2 SHALOSH ARIM TAVDIL LACH BETOCH ARTSECHA ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA LE RISHTAH
שָׁלוֹשׁ עָרִים תַּבְדִּיל לָךְ בְּתוֹךְ אַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לְרִשְׁתָּהּ
KJ: Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
BN: You shall separate three cities for yourselves in the midst of your land, which YHVH your god is giving you as a possession.
SHALOSH: These are the Miklatim or "asylum cities" ("refuge cities" if you prefer). But three? Why only three? In Numbers 35, Mosheh clearly stated six, and if you go to verse 14 at the link, there is a map showing which cities, and where precisely they were located, three "in the midst of your land", as here, but also three in the lands of Gad, Re'u-Ven and half-Menasheh, east of the Yarden. So, again, why only three? And especially: why only three, given the very precise phrasing of verses 8 and 9, below, which do add another three, but somewhat conjecturally, where Numbers 35, and Joshua 20 perhaps even more importantly... To which my only suggestion is that, by the time Deuteronomy was written, probably as an attempt to provide an updated set of laws in Ezraic times, the two and a half tribes east of the Yarden were so long ago disappeared into history (centuries even before the northern tribes were taken away into oblivion by Sennacherib and Shalman-Ezer), and the lands east of the Yarden no longer regarded as part of the "covenant", that probably no one even thought to include them (would an Indian government listing its UNESCO sites include those in Pakistan, or a Mexican government listing its native populations include the inhabitants of Taos?).
BN: You shall separate three cities for yourselves in the midst of your land, which YHVH your god is giving you as a possession.
SHALOSH: These are the Miklatim or "asylum cities" ("refuge cities" if you prefer). But three? Why only three? In Numbers 35, Mosheh clearly stated six, and if you go to verse 14 at the link, there is a map showing which cities, and where precisely they were located, three "in the midst of your land", as here, but also three in the lands of Gad, Re'u-Ven and half-Menasheh, east of the Yarden. So, again, why only three? And especially: why only three, given the very precise phrasing of verses 8 and 9, below, which do add another three, but somewhat conjecturally, where Numbers 35, and Joshua 20 perhaps even more importantly... To which my only suggestion is that, by the time Deuteronomy was written, probably as an attempt to provide an updated set of laws in Ezraic times, the two and a half tribes east of the Yarden were so long ago disappeared into history (centuries even before the northern tribes were taken away into oblivion by Sennacherib and Shalman-Ezer), and the lands east of the Yarden no longer regarded as part of the "covenant", that probably no one even thought to include them (would an Indian government listing its UNESCO sites include those in Pakistan, or a Mexican government listing its native populations include the inhabitants of Taos?).
19:3 TACHIN LECHA HA DERECH VE SHILASHTA ET GEVUL ARTSECHA ASHER YANCHILCHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA VE HAYAH LANUS SHAMAH KOL ROTSE'ACH
תָּכִין לְךָ הַדֶּרֶךְ וְשִׁלַּשְׁתָּ אֶת גְּבוּל אַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר יַנְחִילְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְהָיָה לָנוּס שָׁמָּה כָּל רֹצֵחַ
KJ: Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.
BN: You shall prepare for yourselves a road, and divide the borders of your land, which YHVH your god is causing you to inherit, into three parts, so that anyone who commits manslaughter may flee there.
Again, see Numbers 35. The three Miklatim - asylum cities - "in the midst of the land" were Kedesh (in Naphtali), Shechem (in west Menasheh) and Chevron (in Yehudah). Joshua 20:8 lists all six.
How would Mosheh have known to choose these cities? He has never been to the land, and only Kalev and Yehoshu'a of those living at the time of either the Numbers version or this one had ever been anywhere inside the land, and that very briefly, and not terribly wide-ranging either. Given the absence of maps in those days, he would not have had the feintest clue what the names of distant towns were, whether they were on hill-slopes or in deep valleys, by rivers or marshes, accessible or inaccessible. To name these towns, and to divide the land with roads in this manner, requires the services of map-makers, or local advisors. So, again, we can date the text to a much later period than the Mosaic.
SHALOSH: And once again I ask: why three? But this time for a different reason, and with the prefatory note that this division has never previously been mentioned, or not in the texts anyway, though it has been clearly inferred and implied by my notes at a hundred different points. Everything in the social, political, cultural, religious and every other facet of life in the ancient world was an attempt to mirror their understanding of the gods, because the gods wanted humanity to be fully in its own image and likeness, and the laws being given here are intended to achieve that. But in Yisra-El that image and likeness was not physical appearance, because the gods of Yisra-El had no physical appearance. But in their essence. So, if the heavens are comprised of seven planets and twelve stellar constellations, the number seven needs to be acknowledged wherever possible, as in the days of the week, and twelve months for the twelve constellations... and twelve tribes as well... and ... the moon has three phases, and the year is divided in three phases to mirror it, with a Chag in each phase... and so too the land is divided into three sections, with a Miklat in each section...
SHALOSH: And once again I ask: why three? But this time for a different reason, and with the prefatory note that this division has never previously been mentioned, or not in the texts anyway, though it has been clearly inferred and implied by my notes at a hundred different points. Everything in the social, political, cultural, religious and every other facet of life in the ancient world was an attempt to mirror their understanding of the gods, because the gods wanted humanity to be fully in its own image and likeness, and the laws being given here are intended to achieve that. But in Yisra-El that image and likeness was not physical appearance, because the gods of Yisra-El had no physical appearance. But in their essence. So, if the heavens are comprised of seven planets and twelve stellar constellations, the number seven needs to be acknowledged wherever possible, as in the days of the week, and twelve months for the twelve constellations... and twelve tribes as well... and ... the moon has three phases, and the year is divided in three phases to mirror it, with a Chag in each phase... and so too the land is divided into three sections, with a Miklat in each section...
19:4 VE ZEH DEVAR HA ROTSE'ACH ASHER YANUS SHAMAH VA CHAI ASHER YAKEH ET RE'EYHU BIVLI DA'AT VE HU LO SON'E LO MITMOL SHILSHOM
וְזֶה דְּבַר הָרֹצֵחַ אֲשֶׁר יָנוּס שָׁמָּה וָחָי אֲשֶׁר יַכֶּה אֶת רֵעֵהוּ בִּבְלִי דַעַת וְהוּא לֹא שֹׂנֵא לוֹ מִתְּמֹל שִׁלְשֹׁם
BN: These are the laws governing the manslaughterer, who shall flee there and live: whoever kills his neighbour unintentionally, and did not hate him in time past...
19:5 VA ASHER YAVO ET RE'EYHU VA YA'AR LACHTOV EYTSIM VE NIDCHAH YADO VA GARZEN LICHROT HA ETS VE NASHAL HA BARZEL MIN HA ETS U MATSA ET RE'EYHU VA MET HU YANUS EL ACHAT HE ARIM HA ELEH VA CHAI
וַאֲשֶׁר יָבֹא אֶת רֵעֵהוּ בַיַּעַר לַחְטֹב עֵצִים וְנִדְּחָה יָדוֹ בַגַּרְזֶן לִכְרֹת הָעֵץ וְנָשַׁל הַבַּרְזֶל מִן הָעֵץ וּמָצָא אֶת רֵעֵהוּ וָמֵת הוּא יָנוּס אֶל אַחַת הֶעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וָחָי
BN: So, for example, a man goes into the forest with his neighbour to cut wood, and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the helve, and lights upon his neighbour, so that he dies; he shall flee to one of these cities and live.
The phrasing is far from identical from the Numbers 35 version, though the intent clearly is. I shall not repeat here the comments that I made there, except to say that, in my view, somebody must have read the Numbers text, and felt that it was much too lawyerly, and decided to rewrite it in a form more easily accessible to the layperson.
19:6 PEN YIRDOPH GO'EL HA DAM ACHAREY HA ROTSE'ACH KI YECHAM LEVAVO VE HISIGO KI YIRBEH HA DERECH VE HIKAHU NAPHESH VE LO EYN MISHPAT MAVET KI LO SON'E HU LO MITMOL SHILSHOM
KJ: Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
BN: Lest the Go'el pursue the manslaughterer, while his blood is heated, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not deserving of death, inasmuch as he did not hate him in time past.
פֶּן יִרְדֹּף גֹּאֵל הַדָּם אַחֲרֵי הָרֹצֵחַ כִּי יֵחַם לְבָבוֹ וְהִשִּׂיגוֹ כִּי יִרְבֶּה הַדֶּרֶךְ וְהִכָּהוּ נָפֶשׁ וְלוֹ אֵין מִשְׁפַּט מָוֶת כִּי לֹא שֹׂנֵא הוּא לוֹ מִתְּמוֹל שִׁלְשׁוֹם
BN: Lest the Go'el pursue the manslaughterer, while his blood is heated, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not deserving of death, inasmuch as he did not hate him in time past.
GO'EL: See number 5 at the link, and/or my notes at Numbers 35:11 and 12. The Jewish Encyclopedia has a very thorough page on this, but the site appears to be down.
YACHEM LEVAVO: This may sound like a very strange question, but how did Mosheh in 1300 BCE, or the narrator in 450 BCE, know that "his heart was hot", which is a description of the blood not just coursing but positively pumping through his veins, if the fact that blood circulates through the body in a system of veins and arteries was completely unknown to the human world until... well, if you are a White European Christian, then until William Harvey discovered it in the 16th century AD, but if you are either more open-minded, or from elsewhere in the human world, until ibn al-Nafis discovered it, somwhen in the the 7th century AH?
YACHEM LEVAVO: This may sound like a very strange question, but how did Mosheh in 1300 BCE, or the narrator in 450 BCE, know that "his heart was hot", which is a description of the blood not just coursing but positively pumping through his veins, if the fact that blood circulates through the body in a system of veins and arteries was completely unknown to the human world until... well, if you are a White European Christian, then until William Harvey discovered it in the 16th century AD, but if you are either more open-minded, or from elsewhere in the human world, until ibn al-Nafis discovered it, somwhen in the the 7th century AH?
19:7 AL KEN ANOCHI METSAVCHA LEMOR SHALOSH ARIM TAVDIL LACH
עַל כֵּן אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ לֵאמֹר שָׁלֹשׁ עָרִים תַּבְדִּיל לָךְ
KJ: Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.
BN: For which purpose I am instructing you, saying: You shall separate three cities for yourselves...
19:8 VE IM YARCHIV YHVH ELOHEYCHA ET GEVULCHA KA ASHER NISHBA LA AVOTEYCHA VE NATAN LECHA ET KOL HA ARETS ASHER DIBER LATET LA AVOTEYCHA
BN: And if YHVH your god enlarges your borders, as he has promised your ancestors, and gives you all the land about which he spoke to your ancestors...
VE IM: If! See my notes at verse 2.
19:9 KI TISHMOR ET KOL HA MITSVAH HA ZOT LA'ASOTAH ASHER ANOCHI METSAVECHA HAYOM LE AHAVAH ET YHVH ELOHEYCHA VE LALECHET BIDRACHAV KOL HA YAMIM VE YASAPRAH LECHA OD SHALOSH ARIM AL HA SHALOSH HA ELEH
כִּי תִשְׁמֹר אֶת כָּל הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת לַעֲשֹׂתָהּ אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לְאַהֲבָה אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְלָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו כָּל הַיָּמִים וְיָסַפְתָּ לְךָ עוֹד שָׁלֹשׁ עָרִים עַל הַשָּׁלֹשׁ הָאֵלֶּה
BN: If you agree to follow all these instructions which I am giving you today, and carry them out, to love YHVH your god, and to follow his ways forever, then you shall add three more cities for yourselves, beside these three.
BIDRACHAV: Or Bi DERACHAV?
19:10 VE LO YISHAPHECH DAM NAKI BE KEREV ARTSECHA ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA NACHALAH VE HAYAH ALEYCHA DAMIM
וְלֹא יִשָּׁפֵךְ דָּם נָקִי בְּקֶרֶב אַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה וְהָיָה עָלֶיךָ דָּמִים
KJ: That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
BN: So that innocent blood is not shed in the midst of your land, which YHVH your god is giving you for an inheritance, and that blood be upon you.
Sadly, the law of the Go'el was still in place across most of the Middle East two thousand years after Mosheh - known as Muruwah in the Arab world, it was the principal "negative motivation" behind Muhammad's drive to establish a new Table of Values, which led first to Tazaka, then to Islam. Even more sadly, the law of the Go'el is still in place across much of the world to this day, and is known as "machismo".
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19:11 VE CHI YIHEYEH ISH SON'E LE RE'EYHU VE ARAV LO VE KAM ALAV VE HIKAHU NEPHESH VA MET VE NAS EL ACHAT HE ARIM HA EL
וְכִי יִהְיֶה אִישׁ שֹׂנֵא לְרֵעֵהוּ וְאָרַב לוֹ וְקָם עָלָיו וְהִכָּהוּ נֶפֶשׁ וָמֵת וְנָס אֶל אַחַת הֶעָרִים הָאֵל
BN: But if any man hates his neighbour, and lies in wait for him, and rises up against him, and smites him fatally so that he dies; and he flees to one of these cities...
19:12 VE SHALCHU ZIKNEY IRO VE LAK'CHU OTO MI SHAM VE NATNU OTO BE YAD GO'EL HA DAM VA MET
וְשָׁלְחוּ זִקְנֵי עִירוֹ וְלָקְחוּ אֹתוֹ מִשָּׁם וְנָתְנוּ אֹתוֹ בְּיַד גֹּאֵל הַדָּם וָמֵת
KJ: Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
BN: Then the elders of his own city shall send for him, and fetch him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, so that he may die.
19:13 LO TACHOS EYNECHA ALAV U VI'ARTA DAM HA NAKI MI YISRA-EL VE TOV LACH
BN: Your eye shall not pity him, but you shalt put away the blood of the innocent from Yisra-El, that it may go well with you.
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19:14 LO TASIG GEVUL RE'ACHA ASHER GAVLU RISHONIM BE NACHALAT'CHA ASHER TINCHAL BA ARETS ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA LE RISHTAH
לֹא תַסִּיג גְּבוּל רֵעֲךָ אֲשֶׁר גָּבְלוּ רִאשֹׁנִים בְּנַחֲלָתְךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּנְחַל בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לְרִשְׁתָּהּ
BN: You shall not remove your neighbour's landmarker, which people in time long gone by set in place, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that YHVH your god is giving you for a possession.
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19:15 LO YAKUM ED ECHAD BE ISH LE CHOL AVON U LE CHOL CHATAT BE CHOL CHET ASHER YECHETAH AL PI SHNEY EDIM O AL PI SHELOSHAH EDIM YAKUM DAVAR
לֹא יָקוּם עֵד אֶחָד בְּאִישׁ לְכָל עָוֹן וּלְכָל חַטָּאת בְּכָל חֵטְא אֲשֶׁר יֶחֱטָא עַל פִּי שְׁנֵי עֵדִים אוֹ עַל פִּי שְׁלֹשָׁה עֵדִים יָקוּם דָּבָר
KJ: One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
BN: One witness shall not stand against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins; only on the word of two witnesses, or on the word of three witnesses, shall an issue be determined.
We are still reiterating laws given in Numbers 35 - verse 30 this time.
BN: One witness shall not stand against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins; only on the word of two witnesses, or on the word of three witnesses, shall an issue be determined.
We are still reiterating laws given in Numbers 35 - verse 30 this time.
19:16 KI YAKUM ED CHAMAS BE ISH LA'ANOT BO SARAH
כִּי יָקוּם עֵד חָמָס בְּאִישׁ לַעֲנוֹת בּוֹ סָרָה
KJ: If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
BN: If a false witness stands against any man, to bring false testimony against him...
19:17 VE AMDU SHNEY HA ANASHIM ASHER LAHEM HA RIV LIPHNEY YHVH LIPHNEY HA KOHANIM VE HA SHOPHTIM ASHER YIHEYU BA YAMIM HA HEM
וְעָמְדוּ שְׁנֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לָהֶם הָרִיב לִפְנֵי יְהוָה לִפְנֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַשֹּׁפְטִים אֲשֶׁר יִהְיוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם
BN: Then both of the men between whom this controversy exists shall stand before YHVH, before whichever priests and judges there be at that time.
19:18 VE DARSHU HA SHOPHTIM HEYTEV VE HINEH ED SHEKER HA ED SHEKER ANAH VE ACHIV
וְדָרְשׁוּ הַשֹּׁפְטִים הֵיטֵב וְהִנֵּה עֵד שֶׁקֶר הָעֵד שֶׁקֶר עָנָה בְאָחִיו
BN: And the judges shall conduct a full enquiry; and if it transpires that the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother...
19:19 VA ASITEM LO KA ASHER ZAMAM LA'ASOT LE ACHIV U VI'ARTA HA RA MI KIRBECHA
וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר זָמַם לַעֲשׂוֹת לְאָחִיו וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע מִקִּרְבֶּךָ
BN: Then you shall do to him as he had planned to do to his brother; so you shall put away evil from your midst.
19:20 VE HA NISHARIM YISHME'U VE YIRA'U VE LO YOSIPHU LA'ASOT OD KA DAVAR HA RA HA ZEH BE KIRBECHA
וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִים יִשְׁמְעוּ וְיִרָאוּ וְלֹא יֹסִפוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת עוֹד כַּדָּבָר הָרָע הַזֶּה בְּקִרְבֶּךָ
KJ: And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
BN: And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and be deterred thereby from committing the same evil in your midst.
19:21 VE LO TACHOS EYNECHA NEPHESH BE NEPHESH AYIN BE AYIN SHEN BE SHEN YAD BE YAD REGEL BE RAGEL
וְלֹא תָחוֹס עֵינֶךָ נֶפֶשׁ בְּנֶפֶשׁ עַיִן בְּעַיִן שֵׁן בְּשֵׁן יָד בְּיָד רֶגֶל בְּרָגֶל
BN: But your eye shall not show any pity: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.
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Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
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