The big picture
Tribal shares are now assigned to Israel, the people taking this land as their home. Rules must also protect life there. God speaks to Joshua, its leader, about cities of refuge. These are safe places for someone who kills by accident. The danger comes from the dead person's avenger, a relative seeking repayment for the death. A hearing must distinguish an accident from deliberate killing. Six named cities will make that safety available on both sides of Jordan, the river dividing the land.
In this chapter
- God Orders Places of Refuge Joshua 20:1-3
God tells Joshua to have Israel choose towns of refuge, places to flee for safety.
- The Elders Hear the Case and Provide Shelter Joshua 20:4-6
The fleeing person stops at the city gate to explain the case.
- Six Cities Make Protection Available Across the Land Joshua 20:7-9
Three cities are set apart west of Jordan: Kedesh, Shechem, and Kirjath-arba, which is also called Hebron.
Central truth
Refuge towns shield those who kill by accident so the people can hear their case before a dead person's family takes revenge.
Scripture beside the summary
Joshua · King James Version · 9Joshua 20:1-3
God Orders Places of Refuge
God tells Joshua to have Israel choose towns of refuge, places to flee for safety. Moses had already given this command. A person who kills without meaning to can seek shelter there. The dead person's avenger, a relative seeking to answer the death, must not settle the case first. A death is grave even when no one planned it. But the accused must have a hearing. A safe town gives room for that to happen before an angry relative kills in return.
In everyday life
A shaken lorry driver steps into a police station after an accidental collision kills a pedestrian. An officer keeps angry relatives outside while arranging for the driver's account to be heard. The death still matters. Safety gives room to hear the facts before anyone acts in anger. Israel's system centres on chosen towns and a family avenger, not a modern police service.
Notice
Joshua 20:3 The safety is expressly for killing without intent. The refuge is not described as a general shelter for anyone who deliberately takes another person's life.
Joshua 20:1-3
King James Version1The LORD also spake unto Joshua, saying,
2Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
3That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
Joshua 20:4-6
The Elders Hear the Case and Provide Shelter
The fleeing person stops at the city gate to explain the case. The elders, local leaders who hear disputes, listen there. They admit the person and provide a place to live. If the avenger arrives, they must not hand over someone who killed by accident without prior hatred. The person must stay for judgment. Under this rule, release also waits for the death of the high priest, the chief priest then serving. Only afterward can that person return home. Shelter brings safety, but it also limits freedom to leave.
In everyday life
The hostel manager meets a frightened witness at the entrance. She hears why going home puts him at risk. She assigns a room and refuses to give an angry visitor access while the case is reviewed. The witness is safe for now. He still cannot go back to his normal life. The refuge law's release is tied to a high priest's death, unlike this arrangement.
Notice
Joshua 20:5 The killer had not hated the dead person beforehand. This matters when deciding whether a death was planned and whether the pursuer must be kept away.
Joshua 20:4-6
King James Version4And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
5And 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 beforetime.
6And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest 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.
Joshua 20:7-9
Six Cities Make Protection Available Across the Land
Three cities are set apart west of Jordan: Kedesh, Shechem, and Kirjath-arba, which is also called Hebron. Three more are named east of the river: Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan. Together they provide refuge within the areas where Israel now lives. The safety applies both to Israelites and to foreigners residing among them. Anyone who kills by accident can flee there rather than die at the avenger's hand before a hearing. Both the sites and those allowed to enter are named. These rules make safety possible in real places, not only in words.
In everyday life
The local shelter coordinator pins six cards to a transport board. They name safe places on both sides of a wide river. She reads the entry rules. Both local people and newcomers can use these sites. A right to safety needs an address where it operates. The refuge cities also regulate responsibility for a death, which shelters do not decide.
Notice
Joshua 20:9 Resident foreigners receive the same access to a hearing before revenge can reach them. The safety is not restricted to people descended from Israel's tribes.
Joshua 20:7-9
King James Version7And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
8And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned 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.
9These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger 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.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Joshua 20:1 begins with “The LORD also spake unto Joshua, saying,”
Where the chapter turns
Joshua 20:6 forms a natural hinge: “And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days…”
The final note
Joshua 20:9 leaves the reader with “These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words city, avenger, blood, cities, flee, hand help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- unwittingly
- Without intending or knowing it, describing a death caused without deliberate purpose.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
