Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CITIES OF REFUGE

Mosaic law calls for the establishment of a place, or places, of asylum, to which one who kills accidentally or without malice may flee to escape from the avenger of blood. Exod. 21:13 mentions only “a place to which he may flee,” but Num. 35:9-34; Deut. 4:41-43; 19:1-13; Josh. 20:1-9 all speak of the setting aside of specific cities (Heb. ʿārê miqlāṭ) for such a purpose.

The establishment of cities of refuge can be seen as an effort to limit and control the practice of blood vengeance. In ancient Israel, as elsewhere in the ancient Near East, blood vengeance was accepted as a means of dealing with the shedding of blood outside the context of war. If a family member was killed, it was the responsibiltiy of the gôʾēl haddām, “avenger of blood,” a male relative, to find and kill the person who had taken the life of the family member, whether the killing had been intentional or not.

The provision for places of asylum to which an accidental killer may go, however, combines the awareness of a distinction between killing with malice (murder) and killing by accident or without intention, with prohibitions against the shedding of innocent blood.

In Num. 35 the establishment of six cities of refuge from among the levitical cities is commanded, three beyond the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan. The cities were intended for anyone who killed a person without intent (cf. Num. 35:22-28). If an unintentional killer sought refuge in one of the cities, the “congregation” was to rescue the person from the avenger of blood and restore him to the city of refuge, where he had to stay until the death of the high priest.

The Numbers passage makes very clear that those guilty of murder, i.e., intentional killing, or killing with malice, had to be put to death and could in no case get off through payment of a ransom. Neither could the accidental killer return to his own city by payment of ransom. The intent in both cases seems to be to avoid polluting the land, since “blood pollutes the land” (Num. 35:33), apparently even blood shed without intent.

Josh. 20 is similar to Num. 35, , but in addition calls for a trial (Josh. 20:6), and names the six cities of refuge (vv. 7-8): Kedesh in Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali; Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim; Kiriath-arba (Hebron) in the hill country of Judah; Bezer in the wilderness within the territory of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan from Manasseh.

In Deut. 4:41-43 only the three cities beyond the Jordan are named. The setting apart of the remaining three is dealt with in Deut. 19:1-13, although those three are not named. Deuteronomy also allows for establishing three additional cities if the borders of the land are enlarged.

The intent in Deuteronomy seems to be different than in Numbers. There the purpose of asylum seem to be to prevent the killer (even if accidental) from polluting the land by keeping him within a circumscribed space. In Deuteronomy the cities are there to prevent the spilling of innocent blood, namely that of the accidental killer (Deut. 19:6, 10).

Bibliography. D. Patrick, Old Testament Law (Atlanta, 1985); R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (1961, repr. Grand Rapids, 1997).

Marilyn J. Lundberg

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CITIES OF REFUGE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)