Read Numbers 35 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
35:1-8 {p} Cities for the Levites among the tribes
35:9-34 {p} Cities of refuge and the distinction between murder and manslaughter
Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. Num 35:6a
“Refuge” is from Strong’s H7038, קלט qalat, a primitive verb meaning, “to contract.” The pictographs are quph + lamed + tet.
quph ק = sun on the horizon, thus condense, circle, time
lamed ל = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind
tet ט = the basket, thus surround, contain, hold, mud
The cognate words will help us find the parable the Hebrew Root Word is telling. Deformity, veil, and lizard are all cognates. It is of something contracted (quph, as light is contracted to the sun when it is on the horizon, becoming smaller than it was, on the verge of disappearing altogether) when bound (lamed) by that which contains, or covers it (tet). A deformity, such as a shortened or contracted limb, is usually covered from view; a veil covers a woman’s hair, making it disappear from view; and a lizard is a hidden animal, using camouflage as a covering to make it disappear from view.
“Refuge,” that is, “asylum,” is from the sense of taking in (quph, normally, a shortening) a refugee within its boundaries (lamed), so that the sin of the manslayer is covered (tet).
Wherein God, willing to show more abundantly unto the heirs of promise, the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Heb 6:17-18
The two immutable things confirming God’s promise to Abraham, was first, the truth of His Word, as it is impossible for God to lie. Second, He confirmed His Word with an oath, swearing by Himself, since there was no one greater by which to swear. It is because of Messiah that we can flee for refuge, having His grace as a covering, providing a sanctuary for us.
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