Joshua 20: The cities of refuge
A free study, verse by verse. Text: World English Bible. Notes come from the Hebrew. How to read a study
What happens?
Yahweh tells Joshua that Israel is to set apart the cities of refuge he spoke of through Moses. Someone who kills a person by accident may flee to one of them, tell his case to the elders at the city gate, and live there safe from the avenger of blood until he stands trial and until the high priest dies. Israel sets apart Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron, and, east of the Jordan, Bezer, Ramoth and Golan.
Who is speaking?
Yahweh speaks to Joshua. God's own words are in 5 of the 9 verses: verses 2 to 6, his rule for the cities of refuge. Verses 7 to 9 tell what Israel did. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying,
In plain English: Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying,
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.
2“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,God speaks
In plain English: "Tell the Israelites: 'Assign (literally: give) for yourselves the cities of refuge that I spoke to you about through Moses (literally: by the hand of Moses),
The Hebrew word: "Refuge" is miqlat, which the dictionary gives as "an asylum (as a receptacle)": a place that takes someone in.
How it is translated: This Bible says "refuge" in all 20 verses that use miqlat, 7 of them in Joshua.
Good to know: Yahweh gave this law through Moses in to and to . first promises "a place where he shall flee".
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.
3that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood.God speaks
In plain English: so that someone who kills a person by accident, without meaning to (literally: without knowing), may flee there. They will be a refuge for you from the avenger of blood.
The Hebrew word: "Avenger" is go'el, from the word the dictionary gives as "to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etc.)". The avenger of blood is the close relative who acts for the one who was killed.
How it is translated: This Bible says "redeem" or a longer form in 60 of the 84 verses that use the word, and "avenger" or a longer form in 12 (all 3 in Joshua). It is the word for Boaz, the "near kinsman" in , and for "my Redeemer" in .
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.
4He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them.God speaks
In plain English: He is to flee to one of those cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and tell his case to the elders of that city (literally: speak his words in their ears). They are to take him into the city with them and give him a place, and he will live among them.
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.
5If the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver up the man slayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him before.God speaks
In plain English: If the avenger of blood chases him, they must not hand the killer over to him, because he struck his neighbor without meaning to, and had not hated him before (literally: yesterday and the day before).
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.
6He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then the man slayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.’”God speaks
In plain English: He is to live in that city until he stands before the community for judgment, until the death of the high priest of that time (literally: who will be in those days). Then the killer may go back to his own town and his own house, to the town he fled from.'"
Good to know: The verse gives two "until"s: the trial before the community, and the death of the high priest. and give the same order: the community judges between the killer and the avenger of blood, then sends the killer back to his city of refuge, and he stays there until the high priest dies. The text does not say why the high priest's death sets him free.
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.
7They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
In plain English: So they set apart (literally: made holy) Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah.
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.
8Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.
In plain English: On the other side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
Good to know: Moses had already set apart these three cities east of the Jordan in to . With the three in verse 7, they make the six cities of and : three beyond the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan.
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.
9These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the alien who lives among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.
In plain English: These were the appointed cities for all the Israelites and for the foreigner living among them, so that anyone who killed a person by accident could flee there, and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood before he stood before the community.
Show the HebrewHide the Hebrew
How to say it (the stressed part in bold), the Hebrew word, and what it means. Tap a word with a dotted line to open its word study.