Introduction: Accidents happen, and some of these accidents result in the death of another person. There was and is a difference between intentional murders—and there were numerous examples of this in the Bible—and accidental death, sometimes called manslaughter. To provide a safe place for the person who accidentally caused the death of another person, the LORD established six “cities of refuge” located in Israel: three each on each side of the Jordan River. Now let’s take a deeper or more intense look at these cities of refuge.
1 The Reminder to Establish Cities of Refuge
Text: Joshua 20:1-9, KJV: 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.
There are three other Old Testament references to establishing these cities of refuge. Numbers 35:6-34 gives a detailed explanation of what incidents were and were not accidental. Anyone who deliberately committed murder was of course to be put to death (Num. 35:30-31) but if the person who took another’s life accidentally had the option to flee to one of these cities.
The second reference is in Deuteronomy 4:41-43 where the three cities on the east of the Jordan were specified; one each in the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. The third is also in Deuteronomy 19:1-14 which seems to be a reminder and, perhaps, a paraphrase of the Numbers 35 passage. Note that at this time, the only cities mentioned as cities of refuge were for the two-and-a-half tribes living east of the Jordan. This could possibly be because those tribes had already begun to settle over there.
But the other tribes on the west side of the Jordan, or what was called “Canaan”, were still in the getting settled phases of living in their inheritances. Judah had been given the southernmost portion of the land, with Ephraim and West Manasseh occupying the more or less central region of the land. The other tribes apparently hadn’t completely settled yet but things seemed to be falling into place for them.
Before the LORD designated the other cities of refuge, He gave more information to Joshua. It’s likely Joshua may have remembered those words from years past, but, even so, the LORD reminded Joshua of the purpose for these cities.
2 The Rationales for the Cities of Refuge
Text, Joshua 20:4-6, KJV: 4 And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. 5 And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. 6 And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.
It was one thing to designate cities as “cities of refuge”; quite another to understand the rationale for something like this. To be honest, I’ve never heard of any other “safe haven” like this in any other civilization. This, then, was or would be another of the ways Israel was unique under the LORD’s leadership.
Here was the first step: the one who accidentally slew the other person had to flee to one of the cities of refuge. Logically, that person would try to head for the closest one. Once he got there, he was to stand at the city’s gate and “declare his cause” before that city’s elders. Note that nothing is said about approaching any of the priests or Levites, only the chosen city’s elders.
Then the elders were apparently to evaluate the fugitive’s—for lack of a better word—claim and, once they were convinced he was not a deliberate murderer, they were to let him into the city and provide him with a place to live. This was not a permanent arrangement, though: the fugitive was only to stay in the city of refuge until the current high priest died.
So, besides a place to approach, and a place to remain, the city of refuge was also a place of safety for the fugitive. No doubt the “avenger of blood” would pursue the fugitive, even to the city of refuge, but the people of that city were never to hand the fugitive over to anyone. There was one word of warning not mentioned here, though, and that was if the fugitive ever left the “border of the city of his refuge (Num. 35:26-28)”, he was fair game for the avenger of blood. The city of refuge couldn’t keep the fugitive safe if he ever left the “border” of that city.
The conditions for asylum or admittance to a city of refuge were clear. The duration was fair and reasonable; once the current high priest died, the fugitive was free to return to his home. There was only one question remaining: given that there were three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River, which cities on the west side, in Canaan, would be designated as cities of refuge?
3 The Residences of the Cities of Refuge
Text, Joshua 20:7-9, KJV: 7 And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. 8 And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.
Verses 7 and 8 list the six cities of refuge; three on the west side of Jordan and the other three on the eastern side. I’ve wondered why these cities were located so far apart, especially on the west side or in Canaan, but, after looking at a Bible atlas or map, it makes more sense. For example, Kedesh in Galilee seems to have been located in the most northern region of Israel so that anyone from the northernmost tribes could flee there. Kedesh appears to be a hill town, but not totally on a mountain according to an online Bible atlas (https://bibleatlas.org/full/kedesh.htm). The Sea or Lake of Galilee (also called Chinnereth/Chinneroth) was a little south-east of here.
Shechem was located in Mount Ephraim and would be a basically central location for the central tribes (Ephraim and West Manasseh plus Benjamin and other tribes located close by). Shechem had a checkered history, though, and it seems that city was destroyed at least once by the forces of Abimelech, son of Gideon (see Judges 9 and other info at https://bibleatlas.org/shechem.htm). Jacob lost his daughter Dinah to Hamor and Shechem but Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi rescued her (full disclosure, Sermon Central posted a message of mine called “Jacob: The ‘Dinah Jacobs’ Story”). Other events took place here as well.
The third city of refuge on the west side, or in Canaan, was Hebron, south of Bethlehem in Judah, and nearly due west of En-Gedi, near the Dead Sea. Quite a number of cities would be within a day’s walk or so (see the on-line Bible atlas at https://bibleatlas.org/full/hebron.htm). Hebron would of course speak to the memories of many Israelites as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah were all buried in the Cave of Machpelah nearby (see Genesis 23 for more details of the transaction).
Bezer, one of the eastern cities of refuge, was located in Reuben’s territory. According to the online atlas (https://bibleatlas.org/full/bezer.htm), Bezer appears to be in the desert but still close to a number of other cities and the “desert route (little if anything about this routes is mentioned in the Scriptures)”.
Another city of refuge was Golan, in East Manasseh’s territory. Bashan was the name for the region or tract of land which seemed desirable for these tribes so they could raise livestock (see Numbers 32 for their request). This one seems to be the most northern city of refuge for the eastern side according to https://bibleatlas.org/full/golan.htm. The atlas doesn’t indicate many cities or villages but it is close to the streams forming the Yarmuk River and the Sea of Galilee was maybe a day’s journey to the west.
The last of the eastern cities of refuge was Ramoth-Gilead. This city was almost a frontier or even border town, located near the eastern border. The King’s Highway was directly near if not in the city so there was probably a great deal of traffic from both north and south. Again, the area looks almost deserted but still this city was enough of a target for the Syrians to capture. On two occasions at least, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah tried to reconquer the city but there is no record that they ever did accomplish this.
Besides the rationale, reasons, and residences of these cities of refuge, there are a couple of other points to consider. One of these is the picture of safety: a fugitive, who had accidentally slain another person, could flee—run for his life—to one of these cities of refuge and could not be touched so long as he stayed inside the city. Salvation for the sinner is an obvious parallel but there’s one important difference: the Lord Jesus Christ provided salvation for ANYONE who would believe, including guilty parties!
And doesn’t that include all of us?
The second picture is that these cities all seemed to be a good number of miles/kilometers from each other. Any fugitive would need maybe a day’s journey or even more to reach one of these cities. But the salvation Jesus provides is immediately available, by faith! We don’t need to make a journey, rather, all we have to do is repent and accept the gift of salvation!
In sum, the cities of refuge had a strong and significant purpose for Israel. There is no similar program in this age, for those who accidentally take the life of another, but no matter. We—anyone—can receive salvation directly from Jesus anywhere.
What a Savior!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
