Joshua 20:1

_THE LORD ALSO SPAKE UNTO JOSHUA, SAYING,_ The Lord also spake unto Joshua ......

1._The Lord also spoke unto Joshua, _etc In the fact of its not having occurred to their own minds, to designate the cities of refuge, till they were again reminded of it, their sluggishness appears to be indirectly censured. The divine command to that effect had been given beyond the Jordan. When the reason for it remained always equally valid, why do they wait? Why do they not give full effect to that which they had rightly begun? We may add, how important it was that there should be places of refuge for the innocent, in order that the land might not be polluted with blood. For if that remedy had not been provided, the kindred of those who had been killed would have doubled the evil, by proceeding without discrimination to avenge their death. It certainly did not become the people to be idle in guarding the land from stain and taint. (172) Hence we perceive how tardy men are, not only...

1-6 When the Israelites were settled in their promised inheritance, they were reminded to set apart the cities of refuge, whose use and typical meaning have been explained, Joshua 20:35; Joshua 20:19. God's spiritual Israel have, and shall have in Christ and heaven, not only rest to repose in, but refuge to secure themselves in. These cities were designed to typify the relief which the gospel provides for penitent sinners, and their protection from the curse of the law and the wrath of God, in our Lord Jesus, to whom believers flee for refuge, Hebrews 6:18....

CHAPTER XX _Joshua is commanded to appoint cities of refuge_, 1, 2. _The purpose of their institution_, 34. _Three cities are appointed in the promised land_, 7; _and three on the east side of Jordan_, 8, 9. NOTES ON CHAP. XX...

EXPOSITION THE CITIES OF REFUGE.— JOSHUA 20:1 CITIES OF REFUGE. The original is more definite, the cities of refuge. So LXX. WHEREOF I SPAKE TO YOU. In Exodus 21:13; Numbers 35:9; Deuteronomy 19:2. Here, again, Joshua is represented as aware of the existence of the Pentateuch. It must, therefore, have existed in something like its present shape when the Book of Joshua was written. The words are partly quoted from Numbers and partly from Deuteronomy; another proof that these book

THE LORD ALSO SPAKE UNTO JOSHUA,.... Out of the tabernacle, at the door of which he with the high priest and princes were; the Lord had spoken to him before concerning dividing the land among the tribes, Joshua 13:1; and this being done he speaks to him again: SAYING: as follows....

7. THE CITIES OF REFUGE CHAPTER 20 _ 1. The ordinance repeated (Joshua 20:1)_ 2. The cities named (Joshua 20:7) The reader will find the meaning of the ordinance of the cities of refuge in Numbers and Deuteronomy, so that we do not need to repeat it here. But only three cities are mentioned in the Pentateuch. Here the three cities in the land are added. Kedesh was in Naphtah, Kedesh means “sanctuary,” and Naphtali means “wrestler-struggler.” Christ is the refuge for the struggling sinner. Shechem means “shoulder,” and is the type of service. He who is the perfect servant, who ministered and gave His life, is the place of refuge. Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, is the third, and Hebron means “communion.” This we find in Him. Bezer (defense), Ramoth (heights) and Golan (rejoicing) wer

JOSHUA 20. THE CITIES OF REFUGE. The cities of refuge (p. 113) were not appointed till after the Deuteronomic reform under Josiah in Joshua 6:21. In early times the asylum or refuge for the manslayer was the altar at the local sanctuary. This is seen from the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 21:14): If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from my altar that he may die. See also 1 Kings 1:50, where Adonijah, in fear of his life, flees to the altar for safety. When the law of the single sanctuary was promulgated in Dt., other provision had to be made for asylum; hence the institution of the cities of refuge. As Dt. says that Moses commanded the institution of these cities, a later wr

THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah_. App-4. SPOKE. See note on Joshua 1:1....

Joshua 20:1-6. The Divine Command respecting the Cities of Refuge 1. _The Lord also spake unto Joshua_ As soon as the Tribes had received the portion of their inheritance, the Lord directed that Joshua should carry out the injunctions which Moses had left respecting the Cities of Refuge for the accidental homicide....