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Joshua 20
After pages of borders, the LORD reopens the conversation with a single institution: the cities of refuge, promised back through Moses. Six towns — three west of the Jordan (Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron), three east (Bezer, Ramoth, Golan) — are set apart for anyone who kills 'accidentally or unintentionally.' The chapter is short and almost entirely procedural. Watch how it tries to stop a killing from cascading into a feud.
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The LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
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“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,
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that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood.
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He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them.
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If the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver up the man slayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him before.
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He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then the man slayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.’”
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They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
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Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.
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These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the alien who lives among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.
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Y HABLÓ Jehová á Josué, diciendo:
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Habla á los hijos de Israel, diciendo: Señalaos las ciudades de refugio, de las cuales yo os hablé por Moisés;
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Para que se acoja allí el homicida que matare á alguno por yerro y no á sabiendas; que os sean por acogimiento del cercano del muerto.
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Y el que se acogiere á alguna de aquellas ciudades, presentaráse á la puerta de la ciudad, y dirá sus causas, oyéndolo los ancianos de aquella ciudad: y ellos le recibirán consigo dentro de la ciudad, y le darán lugar que habite con ellos.
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Y cuando el cercano del muerto le siguiere, no entregarán en su mano al homicida, por cuanto hirió á su prójimo por yerro, ni tuvo con él antes enemistad.
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Y quedará en aquella ciudad hasta que parezca en juicio delante del ayuntamiento, hasta la muerte del gran sacerdote que fuere en aquel tiempo: entonces el homicida tornará y vendrá á su ciudad y á su casa y á la ciudad de donde huyó.
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Entonces señalaron á Cedes en Galilea, en el monte de Nephtalí, y á Sichêm en el monte de Ephraim, y á Chîriath-arba, que es Hebrón, en el monte de Judá.
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Y de la otra parte del Jordán de Jericó, al oriente, señalaron á Beser en el desierto, en la llanura de la tribu de Rubén, y á Ramoth en Galaad de la tribu de Gad, y á Gaulón en Basán de la tribu de Manasés.
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Estas fueron las ciudades señaladas para todos los hijos de Israel, y para el extranjero que morase entre ellos, para que se acogiese á ellas cualquiera que hiriese hombre por yerro, y no muriese por mano del cercano del muerto, hasta que compareciese delante del ayuntamiento.
A legal pause inside the blood feud
The slayer flees to the gate, states his case to the elders, and is taken in; the avenger of blood may not seize him because the death was unintentional and there was no prior hatred (vv. 4-5). Refuge is conditional on a hearing, not automatic.
The release clause is striking: he stays until he stands trial and until the death of the high priest of that time (v. 6). A national figure's death, not a payment, resets the slayer's liability — and the protection explicitly covers the resident alien too (v. 9).
Context layers
Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.
- Isaiah 33:22Key passage connected to Judgment.
- Romans 2:5-8Key passage connected to Judgment.
- Revelation 20:11-15Key passage connected to Judgment.
- Proverbs 1:7Key passage connected to Fear of the Lord.
- Psalms 111:10Key passage connected to Fear of the Lord.
- Luke 12:4-7Key passage connected to Fear of the Lord.
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