Joshua 20:2 - Forerunner Commentary

Joshua 20:2

The Cities of Refuge

1 The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ^a‘Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

3 that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

4 And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and¹ declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.

5 ^aThen if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand.

6 And he shall dwell in that city ^auntil he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

7 So they appointed ^aKedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, ^bShechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and ^cKirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in ^dthe mountains of Judah.

8 And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned ^aBezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, ^bRamoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and ^cGolan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

9 ^aThese were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who¹ dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood ^buntil he stood before the congregation.

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Definitions of words in Joshua 20:2:

A {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Appoint {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

For {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Israel {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
Israel {Hitchcock's Bible Names}
Israel {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Moses {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
Moses {Hitchcock's Bible Names}
Moses {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Refuge {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Spoke {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

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The Cities of Refuge

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