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Joshua

About this book
Chapter 20

1 The Lord instructed Joshua: 2 “Have the Israelites select the cities of refuge that I told you about through Moses. 3 Anyone who accidentally kills someone can escape there; these cities will be a place of asylum from the avenger of blood.⁠ 4 The one who committed manslaughter should escape to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and present his case to the leaders of that city. They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there. 5 When the avenger of blood comes after him, they must not hand over to him the one who committed manslaughter, for he accidentally killed his fellow man without premeditation. 6 He must remain in that city until his case is decided by the assembly, and the high priest dies. Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to the city from which he escaped.” 7 So they selected 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 Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they selected Bezer in the wilderness on the plain belonging to the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities of refuge appointed for all the Israelites and for resident foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally killed someone could escape there and not be executed by the avenger of blood, at least until his case was reviewed by the assembly.

Texts in conversation

Compare Numbers 35:12 and Joshua 20:4

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Numbers 35 and Joshua 20 describe cities of refuge where someone who kills by accident can flee until trial. Joshua repeats and puts into practice the earlier rules from Numbers, showing an effort to protect life while still requiring accountability.

Passages

Numbers 35:12

Hebrew Bible
10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, 11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. 12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. 13 These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge. 14 “‘You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Joshua 20:4

Hebrew Bible
2 “Have the Israelites select the cities of refuge that I told you about through Moses. 3 Anyone who accidentally kills someone can escape there; these cities will be a place of asylum from the avenger of blood. 4 The one who committed manslaughter should escape to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and present his case to the leaders of that city. They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there. 5 When the avenger of blood comes after him, they must not hand over to him the one who committed manslaughter, for he accidentally killed his fellow man without premeditation. 6 He must remain in that city until his case is decided by the assembly, and the high priest dies. Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to the city from which he escaped.”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joshua

References

"... the sketch given here has only scratched the surface in regard to the many ways in which justice was rendered and judiciaries were perceived throughout ancient Israel. A more detailed examination would require a consideration of the ways in which priests were sometimes also involved in adjudicating cases (e.g., Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 17:8-12; 19:15-19; 21:5; 2 Chronicles 19:8; compare Joshua 8:33; Jeremiah 26:11, 16; Ezekiel 44:24; Micah 3:11), how trials could be brought before the congregation at large (e.g., Numbers 35:12, 24; Joshua 20:6; compare Psalm 1:5), and how kings could sometimes function as the final court of appeal (e.g., 2 Samuel 14:4–11). Yet what is patently evident from this sketch is that at every turn God is portrayed as the judge par excellence, the source of law, the ideal practitioner of justice, and the one to whom those who have suffered injustice may appeal. A return look at the wide-ranging texts discussed earlier will illustrate the point. In Genesis 31, though an earthly tribunal made up of kinsmen of both Laban and Jacob is to arbitrate between the two litigants (Genesis 31:37), Yahweh is called upon to be an ever-present sentry watching between the two parties “when they are absent from each other,” that is, when one mistrusts what the other is up to (Genesis 31:49). Each litigant is to act justly toward the other party in realization that Yahweh is a “witness” between them, not in the sense of a witness testifying on behalf of the defense or prosecution but as a divine witness who superintends the ongoing process and to whom they swear allegiance (Genesis 31:50; compare 1 Samuel 12:5–6; 20:12) ..."
Theodore J. Lewis, The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 528.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Numbers 35:12 and Joshua 20:4

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