Chapter Twenty

1–6. God’s command concerning cities of refuge. 7–9. The cities appointed for this purpose – three in the land west of the Jordan and three in the land east of the Jordan.

Joshua 20:1. And the Lord said to Joshua, saying: After the division of the land of Canaan among the tribes, during the same gathering of the people in Shiloh, there was carried out another divine command concerning cities of refuge, given by the Lord to Moses (Num 35) and repeated by him to the people (Deut 4:41-43). Before the execution of this command, repeated to Joshua when the time for its fulfillment had come, the biblical writer presents a brief exposition of it, in which are indicated the purpose of the establishment (Josh 20:3), the conditions for using the cities of refuge (Josh 20:4-5), and the duration of stay in them (Josh 20:6).

Joshua 20:3. so that the manslayer who kills a person unintentionally, without malice, may flee there; let [these cities] be a refuge for you [so that the manslayer may not die] at the hand of the avenger of blood, [until he stands before the congregation for judgment]. The purpose of instituting cities of refuge consisted in that, with the practice of blood revenge prevalent among the Israelites, as among other Eastern peoples, which was permitted generally by the law of Moses (Tolkovaya Bibliya, vol. I, p. 258), to prevent its destructive consequences in application to the unintentional manslayer (“unintentionally, without malice”), who could find safe refuge from the avenger of blood, who was ordinarily the nearest kinsman of the slain man. The signs of unintentional manslaughter are set forth in detail in Num 35:22-24, Deut 19:4-6. The words placed in brackets “[these cities... so that the manslayer may not die... until he stands before the congregation for judgment]” are not found in the Hebrew text, but are present in the Greek manuscripts, both ancient and later, as well as in the ancient 213 and present Slavonic translation. In their content they fully correspond to what is said in Num 35:12.

Joshua 20:4. And whoever flees to one of these cities shall stand at the gate of the city and recount his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them; Joshua 20:5. and when the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor without intent and had no hatred for him in time past or yesterday; Safe refuge in the city of refuge could be found by the manslayer on one condition only, if he proved to have truly killed his neighbor unintentionally by the judgment of the city’s elders, to whom he recounted his case in their hearing. Specific applications of this law are indicated in Num 35:24-25, Deut 19:11-13.

Joshua 20:6. he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest who shall be in those days. And afterward the manslayer shall return and go to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled. The duration of the unintentional manslayer’s residence in the city of refuge is determined by two terms, which, for brevity of exposition, are joined together: “until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest.” The mutual relation of these terms is evident from Deut 19:11-12 and Num 35:24-25, where it is said that if he who has fled to a city of refuge is judged by the elders of the city where he previously lived to be an intentional murderer, then the elders are to take him from the city of refuge and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood; but if he who has fled to a city of refuge is judged by the elders of the city where he previously lived to have killed his neighbor unintentionally, then he shall be returned to the city of refuge and remain there until the death of the high priest. For the duration of the unintentional manslayer’s residence in the city of refuge, no fixed term was appointed; the length of his stay was made dependent on the length of the high priest’s life, during whose time the unintentional slaying occurred; and since the life and death of men are governed by God, the determination of this duration was entrusted to the will of the Lord. And in this law of Moses, as in others, is expressed the thought of God as the Supreme Judge.

Joshua 20:7. So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah; From the cities of the land west of the Jordan they appointed (according to the Hebrew text “vaiyakdishu” – “consecrated”) as cities of refuge such as were located in three principal regions: “Kedesh in Galilee *14 in the hill country of Naphtali” (Josh 12:22), that is, in the northern district of the region that in later times was called Galilee; “Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and... Hebron” (Josh 10:3).

Joshua 20:8. and beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they appointed: Bezer in the wilderness, on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh; For the land east of the Jordan the cities of refuge had been appointed long before by Moses (Deut 4:43). “Bezer in the wilderness” (in the Slavonic – “Vesor”) was located on the eastern side of the Dead Sea at Kasur-el-Besheir, as the ruins are called to the southwest of Dibon (Josh 13:7), “Ramoth in Gilead” (Josh 13:26: “Ramath-Mizpah”) and “Golan in Bashan”; its location, though a whole region derived its name from it (Gaulanitis, now the Golan), has not been found among the many ruins preserved there; it is conjecturally identified on the east from the northern end of Lake Gennesaret. All these cities were at the same time cities of priests or Levites (Josh 20:7 and others). The choice of cities of refuge from among such cities certainly had the aim that the priests or Levites dwelling in them, through their participation in the investigation of cases of manslaughter, would contribute to the most just possible decision of them, and the special significance of the cities as dedicated to God secured the safety of involuntary manslayers seeking refuge in them. * * * V. K. Lebedev, 231; 240; 386. In the LXX: Γαλειλαίᾳ, in the Hebrew text “galil” – “district.” This land is indicated here according to the Hebrew text by the words “beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho.” In the ancient Vatican manuscript the words “east of Jericho” are not found. This omission deserves attention in that even without the omitted words it is clear what land is meant, and that none of the cities mentioned thereafter was located east of Jericho.