Numbers 35:14 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan. — The meaning of the Hebrew word which is here rendered “on this side” is determined by the words “in the land of Canaan,” which describe the position of the three cities on the west of the Jordan. Otherwise the Hebrew word is applicable equally to the cities on the east and to those on the west of the Jordan. Moses himself appointed the three cities on the east of the Jordan — viz., Bezer, in the country of the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, in the country of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, in the country of the Manassites (Deuteronomy 4:43). The three cities on the west of the Jordan were not appointed until the land had been allotted amongst the nine tribes and a half (Joshua 20:7), when the original appointment of Moses in regard to the three cities on the east of the Jordan was confirmed (Joshua 20:8). It is supposed that the six cities were so selected that no one should be above thirty miles from the nearest city of refuge.