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CITIES
OF REFUGE
Joshua 20:1-9
(1) Then the LORD said to Joshua:
(2) "Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,
(3) so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.
(4) "When he flees to one of these cities, he is to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state his case before the elders of that city. Then they are to admit him into their city and give him a place to live with them.
(5) If the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the one accused, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought.
(6) He is to stay in that city until he has stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then he may go back to his own home in the town from which he fled."
(7) So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
(8) On the east side of the Jordan of Jericho they designated Bezer in the desert on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh.
(9) Any of the Israelites or any alien living among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.
(NIV) |
Six Levitical cities.
Three on each side of the Jordan, were set apart and placed in the hands of the Levites,
to serve as places of asylum for such as might shed blood unwittingly.
Location On the East of the Jordan
| Bezer |
In the lot of Reuben |
| Ramoth-gilead |
In the tribe of Gad |
| Golan |
In the territory of Manasseh |
On the West of the Jordan
| Hebron |
In Judah |
| Shechem |
In Mt. Ephraim |
| Kedesh |
In Naphtali |
Purpose From time immemorial in the East, if a man were slain the duty of avenging him has lain as a sacred obligation upon his nearest relative.
In districts where more primitive conditions prevail, even to this day,
the distinction between intentional and unintentional killing is not too strictly observed, and men are often done to death in revenge for what was the purest accident.
To prevent such a thing where possible, and to provide for a right administration of justice, these cities were instituted.
Open highways were to be maintained along, which the manslayer might have an unobstructed course to the city gate. Regulations The regulations concerning the Cities of Refuge are found in Num 35; Deut 19:1-13; Josh 20:1.
Briefly, everything was to be done to facilitate the flight of the manslayer,
lest the avenger of blood, i.e. the nearest of kin, should pursue him with hot heart,
and, overtaking him, should smite him mortally.
| 1. |
Upon reaching the city he was to be received by the elders and his case heard. |
| 2. |
If this was satisfactory, they gave him asylum until a regular trial could be carried out. |
| 3. |
They took him, apparently, to the city or district from which he had fled, and there, among those who knew him, witnesses were examined. |
| 4. |
If it were proved that he was not a wilful slayer, that he had no grudge against the person killed, and had shown no sign of purpose to injure him, then he was declared innocent and conducted back to the city in which he had taken refuge, where
he must stay until the death of the high priest. |
| 5. |
After the death of the high
priest he was free to return home in safety. |
| 6. |
Until that event he must on no account go beyond the city boundaries.
If he did, the avenger of blood might slay him without blame. |
| 7. |
On the other hand, if he were found guilty of deliberate murder, there was no more protection for him. |
| 8. |
He was handed over to the avenger of blood who, with his own hand, took the murderer's life. |
Blood-money, i.e. money paid in compensation for the murder,
in settlement of the avenger's claim, was in no circumstances permitted;
nor could the refugee be ransomed, so that he might "come again to dwell in the
land" until the death of the high priest (Num 35:32). A similar right of refuge seems to have been recognized in Israel as attaching to the altar in the temple at Jerusalem (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28; compare Ex 21:12 f).
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft) |
