소도 기능을 한 도피처를 마련한 내용의 민수기 35장

민수기 35장은 도시의 도피처와 관련된 내용을 다루고 있습니다. 살인을 포함한 우발적 살인과 고의적 살인 등에 대한 처벌 규정 및 피해자의 복수를 피할 수 있게 보호해 줄 안전한 피난처를 제공해 주는 것인데요. 왜 그랬는지 한번 자세히 알아보겠습니다.

 

레위 사람들에게 주는 혜택

민수기 34장 읽기

영토 분배에 관해 이야기하는 민수기 34장

 

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2"Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasture lands round the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4 The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outwards a thousand cubits all round. 5 And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pasture land for their cities.

 

 

일단, 하나님은 모세를 통해 말하길 제사 등을 주관하는 레위 사람들에게 각별한 혜택을 주는 것에 대해 말씀하십니다. 그러면서 레위 사람들이 거주하는 지역은 이스라엘 법적 보호를 제공받는 특별한 목적의 도시 피난처를 설정해 두었습니다. 그러면서 고의적으로 살인을 한 사람이 아니면 피해자로부터 보호받을 수 있는 안전한 피난처를 제공한다는 것입니다.

 

 6"The cities that you give to the Levities shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two-cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be fortyeight, with their pasture lands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites."

 

 우발적 살인과 고의적 살인

 

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10" Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, WHen you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgement. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

 

이방인을 포함하여 사람이 의도치 않게 살해를 하게 되었을 경우 사건의 진위 등이 밝혀질 때까지 피난처가 필요했을 거라는 깊은 배려심이 느껴집니다. 아무튼, 그런 사람들은 레위인들이 거주하는 지역에서 안전하게 기거할 수 있습니다. 물론 레위인들 뿐 아니라 곳곳에 여섯 개 정도 안전한 피난처를 만들어 두었다고 합니다. 그런 반면 고의적인 살해는 명백한 살인죄로 규정하며 같은 대가를 치를 것이란 것을 암시하는 것 같죠?

 

 

 16."But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hartred or hurled something at him, lying in wait , so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

 

 도피도시 제도의 실질적 적용

 

22."But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait 23 or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he deid, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in a accordance with these rules. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high preist who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. 28 For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29 And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

 

 

현대법은 우발적 살인도 처벌을 받지만 하나님의 시대에는 비교적 관대했던 모양입니다. 하나님은 우발적 살인과 고의적 살인을 명백하게 구분하셨습니다. 그러면서 우발적 살인은 고의 없이 발생한 살인으로 도피도시에 피신하여 재판을 받고 죽을 때까지 보호를 받는다고 나와 있습니다. 그런 반면 의도적 살인을 한 사람은 도피도시로 피신할 수 없으며 복수 살인이 가능하다고 합니다. 

 

30 "If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel."

 

하나님은 살인 사건으로 땅이 더럽혀지는 것을 방지하려는 목적이 강조됩니다.  그래서 살인은 이스라엘 땅을 더럽히는 큰 죄이며 피의 복수가 이루어지지 않도록 하나님의 법을 따르는 것이 필요하다고 규정됩니다. 따라서 도피도시는 거룩한 땅을 불결하게 만드는 살인을 막기 위한 제도적 장치로 이스라엘 공동체의 순수성을 보호하려는 의도가 담겨 있습니다.