Joshua 20 — WBMSE

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20And the Lord spake to Joshua, and said,^{Verse 2}Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and say thou to them, Separate ye (out) the cities of fugitives, either of men exiled for (the) unwillful shedding of blood, of which cities I spake to you by the hand of Moses, (Speak thou to the Israelites, and say thou to them, Ordain ye the cities of refuge for those who be exiled for the unwillful, or the unintentional, shedding of blood, of which cities I spoke to you by Moses,)^{Verse 3}that whoever slayeth unwittingly a man, flee to those cities; that when he hath fled to one of those cities, he may escape the ire of the neighbour, which is venger of blood. (so that whoever unwittingly killeth someone, can flee to those cities; so that when he hath fled to one of these cities, he can escape the anger of the neighbour, who avengeth the blood.)^{Verse 4}And he shall stand before the gates of the city, and he shall speak to the elder men of that city those things that shall prove him(self) innocent; and so they shall receive him, and they shall give to him a place to dwell in.^{Verse 5}And when the venger of blood pursueth him, they of that city shall not betake him into the hands of the venger; for unwittingly he killed his neighbour (or for he killed his neighbour unwittingly, or unintentionally), and he is not proved (to be) his enemy before the second day either the third day.^{Verse 6}And he shall dwell in that city, till he stand before the doom, and yield, or show, the cause of his deed. And he that killed a man, dwell in that city, till the great priest die, which is in that time; then the manslayer shall turn again, and he shall enter into his city, and house, from which he fled. (And he shall remain in that city, until he stand before the judge, and show the reason for his deed. And he who killed someone, shall stay in that city, until the High Priest die, who is in office at that time; then the man-killer shall return, and he shall enter into his city, and into his house, from which he fled.)^{Verse 7}And they ordained Kedesh in Galilee, of the hill of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill of Ephraim, and Kiriatharba, that is Hebron, in the hill of Judah. (And they ordained Kedesh in Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriatharba, that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah.)^{Verse 8}And beyond (the) Jordan, against the east coast of Jericho, (or And on the eastern side of the Jordan River, east of Jericho), they ordained Bezer, that is set in the field wilderness of the lineage of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, of the lineage of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, of the lineage of Manasseh.^{Verse 9}These cities were ordained to all the sons of Israel, and to the comelings that dwell among them, that he that killed unwittingly a man, should flee to those cities; and he should not die in the hand of the neighbour, coveting to venge the blood shed out, till he stood before the people, to declare his cause. (These cities were ordained to all the Israelites, and to the newcomers who live among them, so that he who unwittingly killed someone, could flee to them; and so that he would not die at the hand of the neighbour, coveting to avenge the blood shed out, until he first had stood before the people to declare his case.)

Commentary

Introduction

After the distribution of the land by lot among the tribes of Israel, six towns were set apart, in accordance with the Mosaic instructions in Num 35, as places of refuge for unintentional manslayers. Before describing the appointment and setting apart of these towns, the writer repeats in Jos 20:1-6 the main points of the Mosaic law contained in Num 35:9-29 and Deu 19:1-13, with reference to the reception of the manslayers into these towns. לכם תּנוּ, "give to you," i.e., appoint for yourselves, "cities of refuge," etc. In Jos 20:6, the two regulations, "until he stand before the congregation for judgment," and "until the death of the high priest," are to be understood, in accordance with the clear explanation given in Num 35:24-25, as meaning that the manslayer was to live in the town till the congregation had pronounced judgment upon the matter, and either given him up to the avenger of blood as a wilful murderer, or taken him back to the city of refuge as an unintentional manslayer, in which case he was to remain there till the death of the existing high priest. For further particulars, see at Num 35.

List of the cites: Levitical cities were chosen, for the reasons explained in the Commentary on the Pentateuch. Jos 20:7 In the land on this side (viz., Canaan) they sanctified the following cities. In the north, Kedesh (see at Jos 12:22), in Galil, on the mountains of Naphtali. Galil (a circle) was a district in the northern part of the subsequent province of Galilee; it is called הגּוים גּליל, circle of the heathen, in Isa 9:1, because an unusually large number of heathen or Gentiles were living there. In the centre of the land, Shechem, upon the mountains of Ephraim (see at Jos 17:7). And in the south, Kirjath-arba, i.e., Hebron, upon the mountains of Judah (see at Jos 10:3). Jos 20:8-9 The cities in the land on the other side had already been appointed by Moses (Deu 4:41-43). For the sake of completeness, they are mentioned here again: viz., Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan (see at Deu 4:43). The subject is brought to a close in Jos 20:9. המּוּעדה ערי signifies neither urbes congregationis (Kimchi) nor urbes asyli (Gesenius), but cities of appointment, - those which received the appointment already given and repeated again in what follows.

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