Numbers 35:11

Summary

The verse instructs that cities be designated as places of refuge, to which a person who kills another unintentionally may flee. The Hebrew builds this in two steps: first commanding the setting-apart of cities, then defining their function as arei miklat ("cities of refuge", H5892B + H4733), and finally describing the person entitled to flee there.

Key words

• hik.ri.Tem ("you will make happen", H7136A) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect from a root meaning "to happen/encounter"; the causative form turns "happen" into "cause to happen," i.e. bring about the existence of these cities, rather than a neutral verb like "build."
• 'a.Rei ("cities of", H5892B) — construct plural, linking directly to mik.Lat ("refuge", H4733) to form the fixed phrase "cities of refuge."
• tih.Yei.nah ("they will be", H1961) — qal imperfect, feminine plural, agreeing with the feminine plural arim ("cities"), stating the ongoing function these cities will hold.
• ro.Tze.ach ("a killer", H7523) — qal participle, masculine singular, naming the category of person in view: one engaged in killing.
• ma.keh- ("who has struck down", H5221) — hiphil participle construct, in apposition to ro.Tze.ach, specifying the act as "striking a Ne.fesh" ("person", H5315J), modified by bi-sh.ga.Gah ("by inadvertence", H7684).

What the text says

The sentence opens with the causative hikritem, built on a root associated with "happening" or "encountering." Its hiphil form frames the cities' existence as something the addressees will actively bring about, distinct from ordinary building verbs. This is followed by lakhem 'arim ("cities for yourselves"), and then a second clause restates the noun as arei miklat, "cities of refuge," with the feminine plural verb tihyeinah ("they will be") confirming their designated function for the community (lakhem, "for you").

The second half of the verse shifts to the person who will use these cities. Nas ("he will flee", H5127) is a sequential perfect continuing the narrative chain, followed by shammah ("there", H8033G) with the directional he reinforcing motion toward the place. The one who flees is described twice in apposition: as rotze'ach ("a killer"), a general participle, and then more specifically as makeh nefesh ("one who strikes a person"), a construct participle that narrows the description to the act of striking a life. The final phrase bishgagah ("by inadvertence") qualifies the entire description, marking the killing as unintentional rather than deliberate.

Differences between versions

The LXX condenses the Hebrew's two-part naming (arim / arei miklat) into a single noun, φυγαδευτήρια ("places of refuge"), and adds πᾶς ("everyone/any") before the participial phrase describing the killer, an element not present in the Hebrew construct chain. The Vulgate likewise omits the repeated "cities of refuge" phrasing, rendering the purpose clause simply as in praesidia fugitivorum ("as refuges for fugitives") and paraphrasing bishgagah ("by inadvertence") as nolentes ("unwilling"), shifting the nuance from an adverbial description of the act to a statement about the killer's disposition.