Joshua 20

The second half of the Book of Joshua (chapters 13–21) recounts the division of the land of Canaan among the tribes. This chapter follows chapter 19, which completes the allotment of the tribal inheritances and Joshua's own inheritance, and it describes the designation of the cities of refuge. Chapter 21 then assigns the cities in which the Levites are to live.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 The Lord commands Joshua to appoint the cities of refuge of which He had spoken through Moses. These cities are places where one who has killed a person unknowingly and by mistake may escape the avenger of blood.
• Verses 4–6 The fugitive presents his case to the elders of the city at the entrance of the city gate. The elders take him in and do not deliver him to the avenger. The fugitive remains there until he stands trial before the congregation, or until the death of the high priest then in office, after which he returns to his own city.
• Verses 7–9 Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron are appointed west of the Jordan, and Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan east of the Jordan. These six cities are for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them.

Key Verses

• Joshua 20:3 "That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither" — This makes clear that the cities of refuge are for one who has killed a person without intent.
• Joshua 20:6 "Until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days" — A distinctive provision in which the death of the high priest marks the end of the period of refuge.
• Joshua 20:9 "For the stranger that sojourneth among them" — The protection extends also to foreigners residing among Israel.

People and Places

• Joshua: The leader who receives the command and conveys it to the people.
• Moses: Mentioned as the one who first delivered the regulations concerning the cities of refuge.
• Avenger of blood: A close relative of the person who was killed, charged with the responsibility of exacting payment for the shed blood. (The Korean Revised Version renders the term slightly differently from the older Korean translation.) The Hebrew word go'el is the same term used for the kinsman-redeemer.
• High priest: His death brings the period of refuge to an end.
• Kedesh: A city in Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali.
• Shechem: A city in the hill country of Ephraim.
• Hebron: A city in the hill country of Judah, formerly called Kirjath-arba.
• Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan: Cities east of the Jordan River, located in the territories of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, respectively.

Points for Reflection

The regulations concerning the cities of refuge appear earlier in Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19. Deuteronomy 4 records Moses setting apart three cities east of the Jordan. This chapter records the carrying out of that command. Notable features are its distinction between intentional murder and manslaughter (killing a person by accident) and its prevention of private vengeance before a trial.

Many Christian interpreters have long read the cities of refuge as a type (a shadow that prefigures a future reality) of salvation through fleeing to Christ. They have seen the provision that freedom comes only with the death of the high priest as pointing to the death of Christ. Some also connect the cities of refuge with the language of Hebrews 6:18, "who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." The New Testament, however, does not mention the cities of refuge directly, and interpreters differ on how far such typological readings should be accepted.

Later Jewish tradition relates that signposts were set up along the roads leading to the cities of refuge, but this detail is not found in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

The cities of refuge are a frequent sermon theme, used as an image of Christ as the refuge to which sinners may flee.