The Avenger of blood = go-el had-am = kinsman redeemer. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Cities of Refuge. In the church we have taken refuge, in the city of refuge, in the church of Christ. that a manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having enmity toward him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. . God is known in her palaces for a refuge . Only one tribe, the Levites, was not given land to develop. so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. Thus, God also intended the Levites to be teachers of His laws (Deuteronomy 33:10). [18], Biblical scholars perceive this simple right of asylum at sanctuaries as being presented by the Covenant Code,[20] which textual scholars attribute to the 8th century BC. The English books of First and Second Chronicles are a single book in the Hebrew Bible called Divrei Hayyamim, (i.e. I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge . He is our High Priest who acquits us from the condemnation of the law. By their consecration as priests, the Levites were mediators between the Israelites and God. Under Mosaic law, murder was punishable by death (Exodus 21:14). See: CITIES OF REFUGE. They were to be strategically located so that there would be easy access to them for anybody seeking refuge. These cities had a specific purpose: These cities were chosen after they reached the promised land (Joshua 20:1-3, 7-9). For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. You shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. Cities of Refuge Ps. Of the forty-eight cities given to them, six were designated as cities of refuge. The names of the six cities of refuge and the tribal territories they were located in: - Kadesh - in Naphtali - Shechem - in West Manasseh - Hebron - in Judah - Golan - in East Manasseh - Ramoth - Gilead in Gad - Bezer - in Rueben Where were the Cities of Refuge Located? The cities of refuge are a parallel with Jesus, in whom sinners can find refuge from the destroyer of our souls, Satan. [33], The classical rabbinical writers regarded all the cities controlled by the Levites as being cities of refuge, although they considered that asylum could only be claimed against the will of a city's inhabitants if the city was one of the six main cities of refuge. After which, the offender was free to return to his own home. One tribe, however, the Levites, were not given their own land. Six cities, three on each side of Jordan (that is, Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron, on the western side, and Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan on the eastern side), in which a man who had accidentally committed homicide could take refuge from the avenger of blood. Does it take a strong will to have victory? InJoshua 20, God gave Joshua detailed instructions for the Israelites in regard to how the cities of refuge should function. Judges 4:9 records that Devorah went with Barak back to Kedesh. you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the, You shall prepare the roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the, Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously. [29] The Talmud argues that the death of the high priest formed an atonement,[30] as the death of pious individuals counted as an atonement. 4:41-43; 19:2). For You have been a defense for the helpless,A defense for the needy in his distress,A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;For the breath of the ruthlessIs like a rain storm against a wall. What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, Sell Your Cloak and Buy a Sword? If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. The next time Kedesh is mentioned outside of Y'hoshua is in Judges 4 where the prophetess Devorah sends for Barak to send him out against Sisra: Judges 4:6Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-Naphtali, and said to him, "Behold, the LORD, the G-d of Israel, has commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. The unintentional killer had to sever ties with family and go to a Levitical city, similar to the Levites who had to sever family ties to perform religious duties "which included homicide in the name of god." If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. In addition, there were signs which read Miklat meaning Refuge.. [17] The altar of the Temple in Jerusalem also came to be regarded as a place of sanctuary, but only counted for the officiating priest, and even then only temporarily, as the priest ultimately had to be taken to a city of refuge;[36] when Jerusalem was under Seleucid control, Demetrius I offered to turn the Temple into an official place of sanctuary, though the offer was turned down. These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation. You may feel like the person who wrote these words, "I feel . so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. So let's say, for example, that Joe was walking under a ladder, and Sam, who . Neither can you go by feelings. (kiriat) means "city of" or "town of". A wonderful tool! Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Cities of refuge. You shall prepare the roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as a possession, so that any manslayer may flee there.read more.Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dieshe may flee to one of these cities and live; otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously. Instead, they were to be the priests of the Lord and the overseers of the tabernacle and all its rites and furnishings. 9then the lord said to moses: 10"speak to the israelites and say to them: 'when you cross the jordan into canaan, 11select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. 'But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east. Nevertheless, the entire nation was responsible for the subsistence of the Levites. The Hebrew name (Kiryat arba Strong's #7153) is actually two words: The first word, (kiriah- Strong's #7151), which means city or town. These cities of refuge foreshadowed God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. Joshua 20 is a short chapter and is entirely focused on the cities of refuge. Ephraim, Hebron in Judah, Golan in Bashan, Rumoth in Gilead, Bezer in Reuben ( Num. There are six cities here because they only protect the physical life and not the spiritual life. Article Images Copyright 2022 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. [13] Deuteronomy does not give any role to the high priest or mention the terms on which the perpetrator could return home, but does state that roads should be built to the cities of refuge to ease the escape of the perpetrator to them. Both Psalm 60:6 and Psalm 108:7 state that G-d has spoken in His holiness and says He will "portion out Shechem and measure out the valley of Succoth". 2 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: 3 That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge . What are your takeaways? The cities of refuge (Hebrew: r ha-miql) were six Levitical towns in the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah in which the perpetrators of accidental manslaughter could claim the right of asylum. The latter reference above is "Kedesh in Galilee" but is not greatly informative since the northern-most city named Kedesh is in the northern part of the area known as Galilee and the southern-most of the two is very near the Sea of Galilee. There are six cities where a person who has committed accidental murder may flee for safety. These cities were put into place to as a refuge for those who killed a man by mistake. Scripture goes on to record the specific cities which were selected. "The Rabbins deliver this; Moses separated three cities of refuge beyond Jordan, [Deut 4:41-43;] and, against them, Joshua separated three cities in the land of Canaan, [Josh 20:7,8]. In the remainder of this article we will list out the cities, note every place where they are mentioned in Scripture and provide a map of their locations. [ joshua 20:1 the lord also spake unto joshua, saying, 2 speak to the children of israel, saying, appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof i spake unto you by the hand of moses: 3 that the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. In order to keep His people safe from injustice, God required of Moses that the Levites should keep six cities out of the 48 they had been allocated as places of asylum for those who had been accused of manslaughter, that they may be legally protected from those wishing to avenge them until they could come to trial (Numbers 35: 22-25). You have to flee; you must go to Christ. Upon reaching one of the cities of refuge, the slayer stood at the gates and presented his case to the elders of the city ( Joshua 20:4 ). 16 if, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he You shall prepare the roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as a possession, so that any manslayer may flee there. But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. The cities were Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan. We are guilty of sin, but by His blood we can take refuge. Shechem is not mentioned again until the book of Y'hoshua (Joshua): 1 Kings 12:1 (and its parallel in 2 Chronicles 10:1) state that "all Israel" had come up to Shechem to make Rehoboam king. Establish six cities of refuge: three on the far side of the Jordan River, and three in the Land of Canaan. He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them. Bethlehem is also so called as being David's . This situation arises when someone is killed while the perpetrator is fulfilling his legal duties such as. If he acted unintentionally, he would return to the city of refuge and live there safely until the death of the high priest who was in office at the time of the trial, at which point he could return to his home or town. But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Others say that Anakis a proper name (Targum Jonathan and the Septuagint) and that he, Anak, may have been the father of the three others mentioned in the Book of Numbers as living in Hebron (which the Book of Joshua says was previously called Kiryat Arba). [17] This is considered by scholars to be the reason that, in Israelite culture, the rights were restricted to just six locations by the time the Priestly Code was compiledthe late 7th century according to textual scholars[26]and it is thus regarded by biblical scholars as being no coincidence that the three cities of refuge to the west of the Jordan were also important ancient religious sanctuaries;[18] little is known about the cities of refuge to the east of the Jordan (as of 1901), but scholars consider it reasonable to assume that they were once also important sanctuaries. Had it been destroyed requiring it to be rebuilt or was Jeroboam building a new town with the same name in another part of the Land? Cities of refuge, [N] [T] six Levitical cities specially chosen for refuge to the involuntary homicide until released from banishment by the death of the high priest. If, in the course of performing the mitzva with which they are charged, they unintentionally murdered the son, the student, or the person being flogged, respectively, they are exempt. The most famous story in the Bible of a kinsman redeemer is Boaz who avenged Elimelechs death when he married Ruth. So are today's "sanctuary cities" a modern biblical expression of the Bible's "cities of refuge?". GotQuestions.org, What were the Cities of Refuge in the Old Testament?, Bible Hub, The portion of the tribe of Levite., Bible Hub, The Levites to be distributed in certain cities throughout the whole land., Compelling Truth, What were the Cities of Refuge in the Old Testament?. If he pushed him of hatred, or threw something at him lying in wait and as a result he died. Sisra's army is destroyed and he, himself, is killed by woman named Ya'el when she drives a peg through his temple (Judges 4:22). They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Can God save moral weaklings? Let us take a journey together through Scripture and see what it says about the matter of cities of refuge a "walk in the Word" so to speak. As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.read more.Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there. Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. Why Does the Bible Say, Love Does Not Boast? [32], The Talmud states that, in accordance with the requirement to especially build roads to the cities of refuge, the roads to these cities were not only marked by signposts saying "Refuge", but the roads were 32 ells widetwice the regulation widthand were particularly smooth and even, in order that fugitives were as unhindered as possible. Three of the cities were located on the west side of the Jordan River and three were east of it. Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. David said, "Pour out your hearts to him"; that's what David did all the time. Jesus *said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cities_of_Refuge&oldid=1117638681, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia with a Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Complete innocence, for which no further action was necessary. (Ge 9:5, 6; Nu 35:33, 34) So, in the case of a murderer, the blood of his victim was avenged and the law of 'life for life . Neither Ramot nor Gil'ad are explicitly mentioned in the Apostolic Writings. Roads: from Beth-El to Shechem. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. . Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. The cities of refuge ( Hebrew: 'r ha-miql) were six Levitical towns in the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah in which the perpetrators of accidental manslaughter could claim the right of asylum. [24], Over time, these general rights of asylum were gradually curtailed, as some sanctuaries had become notorious hotbeds of crime; in Athens, for example, the regulations were changed so that slaves were only permitted to escape to the sanctuary of the temple of Theseus. He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them.read more.Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. The Levites were the only tribe who had been appointed by God to serve Him as His priests. You cannot go through penance or probation. Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east, that a manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having enmity toward him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. 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