Joshua · chapter 20 of 24
Updated on
Joshua 20 tells that the Lord commands Joshua to appoint the cities of refuge, as spoken through Moses, so that anyone who kills someone unintentionally can flee there from the avenger of blood. The chapter names the six cities, three west and three east of the Jordan, and explains how the accused was protected until trial and until the death of the high priest.
In the middle of the account of the division of the land, Joshua 20 turns to a matter of justice. The law of Moses had provided safe places for someone who caused an accidental death, so that vengeance would not become an endless cycle. The chapter shows that God's people must live with mercy and justice, protecting the innocent and judging the guilty.
The Lord speaks to Joshua and tells him to say to the sons of Israel that they should appoint the cities of refuge of which he spoke through Moses. There the manslayer who kills a person unintentionally and without meaning to may flee. Those cities will serve as a refuge from the avenger of blood, the relative of the victim.
The text describes the procedure. The one who flees to one of the cities stops at the entrance of the gate of the city and states his case to the elders, who receive him and give him a place to live. If the avenger of blood pursues him, the elders will not hand over the accused, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly and had not hated him beforehand. He will remain in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment and until the death of the high priest who is in office at that time. Then he may return to his own town and his own home.
Then the cities they set apart are named. West of the Jordan: 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. East of the Jordan, across from Jericho: Bezer, in the wilderness on the tableland, 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 sons of Israel and for the stranger who lived among them, so that anyone who killed a person unintentionally could flee to them and not die by the hand of the avenger before standing before the congregation.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord commands that cities of refuge be appointed for anyone who kills a person unintentionally and unknowingly. The law distinguishes between the murderer and the one who causes an accidental death, and protects the second from unjust vengeance.
The fugitive stops at the entrance of the gate, states his case to the elders and is received. Justice goes through public speech, not through private violence.
The accused must remain in the city until he stands trial and until the death of the high priest, and then he may return home. The refuge is both protection and limit: it takes seriously the life that was lost.
The cities serve all the Israelites and the stranger who lives among them. The protection God offers is not reserved for one group but reaches anyone living among his people.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: For anyone who killed a person unintentionally and unknowingly. — Joshua 20:3
Answer: From the avenger of blood, the relative of the victim. — Joshua 20:3
Answer: At the entrance of the gate of the city, before the elders. — Joshua 20:4
Answer: Until he stood trial before the congregation and until the death of the high priest of those days. — Joshua 20:6
Answer: Kedesh in Galilee, Shechem and Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron. — Joshua 20:7
Answer: Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead and Golan. — Joshua 20:8
Joshua 20 teaches that God's justice includes mercy. Not all harm is equal: someone who causes it unintentionally deserves a fair process, not immediate vengeance. In a church or small group we can reflect on how we treat the mistakes of others: with hasty judgments, or by making room to listen and protect until the truth is clear.
The cities of refuge also point to every human being's need for refuge. The New Testament presents Christ as the one who offers a greater refuge for those fleeing judgment. A Christian community can be, in its own way, a place of welcome for anyone who arrives wounded, with open doors and elders willing to listen.
Joshua 20 ends with six cities of refuge spread across the land, within everyone's reach. In Joshua 21 the cities of the Levites are assigned, among which will be the cities of refuge, and the book will affirm that the Lord fulfilled all his promises.
He was a close relative of the dead person who had the duty, according to the customs of the time, to seek justice for that death. The law of Moses limited him: he could not act against someone who had caused a death unintentionally and had taken refuge in a city of refuge.
The text does not explain the reason. Many interpreters understand it as a kind of symbolic atonement: the death of the high priest marked a closing. For Christians, that figure points to Christ, the high priest whose work gives final freedom, though Joshua 20 does not make that connection by itself.