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Easton's Bible Dictionary
(no entry)
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
(no entry)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Six Levitical cities specially chosen for refuge to the
involuntary homicide until released from banishment by the death of the high priest.
( Numbers 35:6 , 35:13 , 35:15 ; Joshua 20:2 , 20:7 , 20:9 ) There were three
on each side of Jordan.
(1) KEDESH, in Naphtali. ( 1 Chronicles 6:76 )
(2) SHECHEM, in Mount Ephraim. ( Joshua 21:21 ; 1 Chronicles 6:67 ; 2 Chronicles
10:1 )
(3) HEBRON, in Judah. ( Joshua 21:13 ; 2 Samuel 5:5 ; 1 Chronicles 6:55 ; 29:27
; 2 Chronicles 11:10 )
(4) On the east side of Jordan - BEZER, in the tribe of Reuben, in the plains
of Moab. ( Deuteronomy 4:43 ; Joshua 20:8 ; 21:36 ) 1Macc. 5:26.
(5) RAMOTH-GILEAD, in the tribe of Gad. ( Deuteronomy 4:43 ; Joshua 21:38 ; 1
Kings 22:3 )
(6) GOLAN, in Bashan, in the half-tribe of Manasseh. ( Deuteronomy 4:43 ; Joshua
21:27 ; 1 Chronicles 6:71 ) |
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
See From REFUGE, CITIES OF.
'are ha-miqlaT; poleis ton phugadeuterion (compare 1 Macc 10:28), and other forms):
1. Location:
Six cities, three on each side of the Jordan, were set apart and placed in the
hands of the Levites, to serve as places of asylum for such as might shed blood
unwittingly. On the East of the Jordan they were Bezer in the lot of Reuben, Ramoth-gilead
in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the territory of Manasseh. On the West of the
Jordan they were Hebron in Judah, Shechem in Mt. Ephraim, and Kedesh in Naphtali
(Numbers 35:6 , 14 ; Joshua 20:2 , 7 ; 21:13 , 21 , 27 , 32 , 38; Bezer is named
in Joshua 21:36, but not described as a City of Refuge). An account of these cities
is given in separate articles under their names. Deuteronomy 19:2 speaks of three
cities thus to be set apart, referring apparently to the land West of the Jordan.
2. Purpose:
From time immemorial in the East, if a man were slain the duty of avenging him
has lain as a sacred obligation upon his nearest relative. In districts where
more primitive conditions prevail, even to this day, the distinction between intentional
and unintentional killing is not too strictly observed, and men are often done
to death in revenge for what was the purest accident. To prevent such a thing
where possible, and to provide for a right administration of justice, these cities
were instituted. Open highways were to be maintained along, which the manslayer
might have an unobstructed course to the city gate.
3. Regulations:
The regulations concerning the Cities of Refuge are found in Numbers 35; Deuteronomy
19:1-13; Joshua 20. Briefly, everything was to be done to facilitate the flight
of the manslayer, lest the avenger of blood, i.e. the nearest of kin, should pursue
him with hot heart, and, overtaking him, should smite him mortally. Upon reaching
the city he was to be received by the elders and his case heard. If this was satisfactory,
they gave him asylum until a regular trial could be carried out. They took him,
apparently, to the city or district from which he had fled, and there, among those
who knew him, witnesses were examined. If it were proved that he was not a willful
slayer, that he had no grudge against the person killed, and had shown no sign
of purpose to injure him, then he was declared innocent and conducted back to
the city in which he had taken refuge, where he must stay until the death of the
high priest. Then he was free to return home in safety. Until that event he must
on no account go beyond the city boundaries. If he did, the avenger of blood might
slay him without blame. On the other hand, if he were found guilty of deliberate
murder, there was no more protection for him. He was handed over to the avenger
of blood who, with his own hand, took the murderer's life. Blood-money, i.e. money
paid in compensation for the murder, in settlement of the avenger's claim, was
in no circumstances permitted; nor could the refugee be ransomed, so that he might
"come again to dwell in the land" until the death of the high priest (Numbers
35:32).
A similar right of refuge seems to have been recognized in Israel as attaching
to the altar in the temple at Jerusalem (1 Kings 1:50 ; 2:28 ; compare Exodus
21:12). This may be compared with the right of asylum connected with the temples
of the heathen.
W. Ewing
Tags:
bezer, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, cities of refuge, define, golan, hebron, kedesh, list the 6 cities of refuge, ramoth-gilead, shechem
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