JoshuaChapter 20

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The LORD said to Joshua:

"Tell the Israelites: Designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,

so that anyone who kills a person accidentally, without intent, may flee there. They will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

When someone flees to one of these cities, he is to stand at the entrance of the city gate and state his case before the elders of that city. Then they are to take him into the city and give him a place to live among them.

If the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not hand the killer over to him, since he struck down his neighbor unintentionally and had borne him no hatred before.

He is to stay in that city until he has stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then he may go back to his own town and his own home, the town he fled from."

So they set apart 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.

And east of the Jordan, across from Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau, from the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

These were the cities appointed for all the Israelites and for any foreigner living among them, so that anyone who killed a person accidentally could flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he had stood before the assembly.

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Summary2

Chapter 20

Main Theme: The Lord commands the establishment of six cities of refuge as protection for those who kill unintentionally.

Content: God commands Joshua to appoint cities of refuge, just as He had promised through Moses. A person who kills unintentionally may flee there and receive protection from the avenger of blood. The elders are to accept the fugitive, and he must remain in the city until the death of the high priest. Three cities were appointed west of the Jordan (Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron) and three east of the Jordan (Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan), available to both Israelites and foreigners.

Key Terms/Images:

City of Refuge (עָרֵי הַמִּקְלָט): Cities that provided legal protection for someone who killed without intent.
Avenger of Blood (גֹּאֵל הַדָּם): A relative with the right and duty to avenge the death of a family member.
Unintentional Killing (בִּשְׁגָגָה): Killing without malicious intent or prior enmity, as opposed to premeditated murder.
Death of the High Priest: Marked the time when the fugitive could safely return home.

Historical context

Historical and Cultural Context for Joshua 20

Places

The chapter mentions six cities of refuge strategically located on both sides of the Jordan River. West of the Jordan, Kedesh in Galilee (in the hill country of Naphtali) is identified with Tell Qades north of Lake Merom. Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim is well documented archaeologically at Tell Balata, a city with a long history as a cultic and political center. Kiriath-Arba (Hebron) in the hill country of Judah lies near modern al-Khalil and was already an ancient city at that time.

East of the Jordan, Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau was designated within the territory of the tribe of Reuben, possibly identified with Umm el-Amad. Ramoth in Gilead in Gad's territory is likely Tell Ramith. Golan in Bashan, in Manasseh's eastern region, has given its name to the Golan Heights and may be located at Sahem el-Jolan. The geographical distribution—three cities west of the Jordan and three east of it—made the places of refuge accessible from throughout the land.

Events and Customs

The chapter describes the procedure for the city-of-refuge system ('are hammiklat): Anyone who had killed someone unintentionally (bishgagah, "by mistake") was to flee to one of these cities, stand at the city gate, and present their case before the elders of that city (v. 4). The elders were to take him into the city and give him a place to live. If the avenger of blood pursued him, they were not to hand him over, since he had killed without intent and without prior hostility (v. 5). He was required to remain in the city until he stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the serving high priest (v. 6).

Key Terms

The avenger of blood (go'el haddam) was a close male relative obligated to restore the family's honor by putting the killer to death.

The high priest (hakkohen haggadol): According to verse 6, the killer had to remain in the city of refuge until the high priest serving at that time died. Only then could he return to his own city and home.

"Yesterday or the day before" (mittmol shilshom) is an idiomatic phrase meaning "from earlier" or "previously," used in verse 5 to show that there was no long-standing hostility between the killer and the victim.

Unintentional killing (bishgagah bivli-da'at, "by mistake, without knowledge") – the expression in verses 3 and 9 emphasizes that the city-of-refuge system applied only to unintentional killings.

Chapter-Specific Findings

Verse 9 clarifies that the arrangement applied both to Israelites and to foreigners (ger) living among them, demonstrating universal legal protection. Archaeological excavations at Shechem have uncovered massive city walls and gate structures from the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, consistent with the picture of a city where elders sat at the gate to judge cases.

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Key words6

Cities of Refuge — Safe cities established to provide protection for those who unintentionally killed someone, so they could seek asylum and avoid vengeance from the victim's family.
Joshua — The main character in the book of Joshua, who succeeded Moses as leader of the people of Israel and led them into the promised land of Canaan.
The Lord — Another designation for God, the almighty Creator, who plays a central role in the book of Joshua and gives guidance and instructions to Joshua and the people of Israel.
The Land of Canaan — The area that God promised to give to the people of Israel as their inheritance and homeland. This area corresponds roughly to present-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and parts of Jordan and Syria.
Avenger of Blood — A person who seeks to avenge the killing of a family member by killing the perpetrator. In Joshua 20, cities of refuge are established to protect killers from avengers of blood.
Moses — The prophet and leader of the people of Israel before Joshua, who received the Ten Commandments from God and led the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness.