Joshua 20

God tells Joshua to set apart cities of refuge, as He had commanded through Moses. Someone who killed a person by accident could flee to one of them and be safe from the family’s revenge until he received a fair hearing. Three cities were chosen west of the Jordan and three east of it, so a refuge was within reach of every Israelite.

Joshua 20:1-2

After the land was divided, the LORD reminded Joshua of an earlier command. The cities of refuge were not Israel’s invention. God had given the instruction through Moses, and now the people were to carry it out in the land they had received.

BSA: refuge (“safe haven, asylum”): These towns were meant as real places of safety, where a person in danger could be protected.

See also: Numbers 35:9-15; Deuteronomy 19:1-3.

Joshua 20:3

The cities were for the person who killed someone without meaning to. They did not shelter murderers. The avenger of blood was a close relative whose duty was to answer for a family member’s death. The refuge kept a hasty act of vengeance from adding a second innocent death.

BSA: avenger (“redeemer, kinsman”): The same word describes a relative who protects and acts for his family, so this was a family duty and not mere spite. flee (“run, escape”): The picture is urgent: the person ran for his life, and the nearest city was a place to run to.

Joshua 20:4

The fugitive stood at the city gate, where the elders sat to judge, and told his story. If they received him, they gave him a home among them. The refuge was more than a hiding place. He was taken in and made part of the community for a time.

BSA: elders (“responsible men, leaders”): Mature, respected leaders carried the duty of hearing him fairly and sheltering him.

Joshua 20:5

If the avenger came after him, the city’s leaders were forbidden to hand him over. Their decision rested on whether the killing was accidental and done without earlier hatred. God cared about the state of the heart, not only the fact of a death.

BSA: malice (“hatred or ill will”): The difference between murder and accident lay in earlier hatred, which God weighs.

See also: Numbers 35:22-25.

Joshua 20:6

The man stayed in the city until he stood trial before the assembly. He then stayed until the high priest died, and after that he could go home. The stay was a real restriction, because a life had been lost, yet it ended in mercy. The high priest’s death marked the release.

BSA: assembly (“congregation, gathering”): The judgment was made by the community, not by one angry relative.

See also: Numbers 35:25-28.

Joshua 20:7

Three cities were set apart west of the Jordan: Kedesh in the north, Shechem in the center, and Hebron in the south. They stood in hill country across the land. Kedesh’s name is related to the word for holy, and the choice of cities spread safety across the whole land.

BSA: set apart (“consecrated, made holy”): The cities were dedicated for God’s purpose of mercy, not merely chosen for convenience.

Joshua 20:8

East of the Jordan, three more cities were named: Bezer for Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for Gad, and Golan in Bashan for Manasseh. Moses had commanded these to be set apart before his death. Tribes on both sides of the river now had a refuge near them.

See also: Deuteronomy 4:41-43.

Joshua 20:9

The refuge was open to every Israelite and also to foreigners living among them. God’s mercy did not depend on birth. The closing purpose is repeated: no one was to die by the avenger’s hand before receiving a fair hearing. Justice and mercy are held together.

BSA: foreigners (“sojourners, non-Israelites”): Even outsiders living in Israel were covered by this protection.

See also: Numbers 35:15.