Joshua 20

THE LORD also spake unto Joshua saying,

Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out The Possessions being now divided among you, do you reserve some of them for the use which I have commanded. for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses.

That the slayer that killeth any person unawares, and unwittingly Heb. Through Ignorance, or Error, or Mistake, and without Knowledg. The same thing twice repeated to cut off all the claims and expectations that Wilful Murderers might have of Protection here; and God having declared, That such should be taken even from his Altar, that they might be killed, Exod. 21. 14. and accordingly Ioab was by Solomons Order, killed even at the Altar, 1 King. 2. 28, 29, 30, 31, 34 it is the more strange and impudent, that any Christians should make their Sanctuaries give Protection to such persons whom God has so expresly excepted from it, which the Papists do; and their Doctors are not ashamed to defend it upon frivolous reasons., may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood The Kins-man, who had right or power to demand, or take vengeance of the slaughter..

And when he that does flee unto one of those cities, shall stand at the entring of the gate Where the Judges used to sit. of that city; and shall declare his cause Or, his matters or business, what he has done, and why, and how, he shall give them a true relation of the Fact, and all its circumstan... es. in the ears of the elders of that city; they shall take him into the city Understand, if they are satisfied in the relation he makes, concerning the Fact, otherwise it had been a vain thing to examine his Cause. unto them, and give him a place Which they might well allow him, because God gave them the City with a reservation for such persons. that he may dwell among them.

And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand: because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not before time.

And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand Which was the posture of the Accused, and Accusers Exod. 18. 13. Isa. 50. 8. Zech. 3. 1. before the congregation Or, Company, or Assembly; to wit, the Councel appointed to judg of these matters, not the Council of the City of Refuge, for they had examined him before, v. 4. but of the City to which he belonged, or in or nigh which the Fact was committed, as appears from Numb. 35. 25. for judgment and until the death of the high priest Of which see on Numb. 35. 25. that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.

¶ And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath arba (which is Hebron) in the mountain of Judah Concerning these Cities note, 1. That they were all upon Mountains, that they might be seen at a great distance, and so direct those who fled thither. 2. That they were seated at convenient distance one from another, for the benefit of the several Tribes; for Kedesh was in the North, Hebron in the South, and Shechem between them. 3. That they all belonged to the Levites; partly, that these Causes might be more impartially examined, and justly determined by them who are presumed best able to understand the Law of God, and most obliged and likely to follow it in their Judgment, and not to be biass'd by any affection or corrupt interest; and partly, that their just reputation with the people, and their good Counsels, might lay some restraint upon revengeful persons, who might be inclined or tempted to follow the Man-slayer thither, and endeavour to kill him there..

And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Or, gave, or had assigned or given; for they were given by Moses, Deut. 4. 41, &c. or, they confirmed Moses his Grant, and applied them to that use to which Moses designed and separated them. Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain, out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, out of the tribe of Manasseh.

These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger Not only Proselites, but others also; because this was a matter of common right, that a distinction might be made between casual Man-slayers, and wilful Murderers. that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares, might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.