Deuteronomy 19:12

_THAT INNOCENT BLOOD BE NOT SHED IN THY LAND, WHICH THE LORD THY GOD GIVETH THEE FOR AN INHERITANCE, AND SO BLOOD BE UPON THEE._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-13 Here is the law settled between the blood of the murdered, and the blood of the murderer; provision is made, that the cities of refuge should be a protection, so that a man should not die for that as a crime, which was not his willing act. In Christ, the Lord our Righteousness, refuge is provided for those who by faith flee unto him. But there is no refuge in Jesus Christ for presumptuous sinners, who go on still in their trespasses. Those who flee to Christ from their sins, shall be safe in him, but not those who expect to be sheltered by him in their sins....

This and the next two chapters contain enactments designed to protect human life, and to impress its sanctity on Israel. In Deuteronomy 19:1 the directions respecting the preparation of the roads to the cities of refuge, the provision of additional cities in case of an extension of territory, and the intervention of the elders as representing the congregation, are unique to Deuteronomy and supplementary to the laws on the same subject given in the earlier books (compare the marginal reference). Deuteronomy 19:1, Deuteronomy 19:2 The three cities of refuge for the district east of Jordan had be

EXPOSITION LAWS CONCERNING CITIES OF REFUGE. LANDMARKS NOT TO BE REMOVED. LAWS CONCERNING WITNESSES. DEUTERONOMY 19:1 Moses had before this enunciated the law concerning cities of refuge for manslayers, and had already pointed out the cities on the east of the Jordan that were to be set apart for this (Numbers 35:11, etc.; Deuteronomy 4:41, etc.), he here repeats the law with special reference to the appointment of such cities "in the midst of the

THEN THE ELDERS OF HIS CITY SHALL SEND AND FETCH HIM THENCE,.... The Targum of Jonathan is, "the wise men of his city,'' the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, or at least the civil magistrates of that city, to which such a murderer belonged, had a power to send to the city of refuge whither he was fled, and demand the delivering of him up to them, that his case might be tried before them, and it might appear whether he was a proper person to receive the benefit of the city of refuge or not, and if not, to pass sentence of death upon him, and see it executed as follows: AND DELIVER HIM INTO THE HAND OF THE AVENGER OF BLOOD, THAT HE MAY DIE; that is, after the examination and trial of him, and when he is found guilty, and sentence is passed upon him, then he was to be delivered into the hands of the avenger of blood, to be the executioner of that sentence....

The cities of refuge (lit. of reception, Numbers 35:12 P) were in criminal law the substitute for the local, now disestablished, sanctuaries, each sanctuary in ancient times affording temporary protection for criminals whose guilt was not obvious (Numbers 35*, Joshua 20*). British churches have served the same purpose, (_cf._ the Sanctuary Knocker of Durham Cathedral and Frithstool of Beverley Minster and of Hexham Abbey). Blood revenge was the police of the primitive Aryan and Semitic peoples, and it needed such restraint as the law of asylum supplied. For the earlier law, see Exodus 21:12 * (JE), and for the later, Numbers 35 and Joshua 20:1 (both P). The need for this law arose through the operation of the principle of o

BLOOD. murder. Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Cause), App-6. Compare Deuteronomy 19:10....

_the elders of his city_, etc.] It is not said who are to judge if wilful murder has been committed (for this see Joshua 20:4-9), but the elders of the murderer's town are responsible for his delivery into the hands of the avenger; it is assumed that they are satisfied as to his guilt. The control of the old custom in which the punishment of a murderer was a family duty is in the hands of the public authorities. This is not without analogies among the Semitic nomads (Musil, _Ethn. Ber._361 ff.). _Elders_also appear in Deuteronomy 21:2 ff, Deuteronomy 21:6; Deuteronomy 21:19 f.,...

LESSON FIFTEEN DEUTERONOMY 19:1-21; DEUTERONOMY 21:1-9 f. THE SANCTITY OF LIFE AND PROPERTY (Deuteronomy 19:1-21; Deuteronomy 21:1-9) (1) CONCERNING MURDER (Deuteronomy 19:1-13; Deuteronomy 21:1-9) (a) The Cities of Refuge (Deuteronomy 19:1-13) When Jehovah thy God sh

THE CITIES OF REFUGE. PUNISHMENT OF DECEIT AND FALSE WITNESS 1-13. On the Cities of Refuge see Numbers 35:9 and notes there....