Joshua 20:3

_THAT THE SLAYER THAT KILLETH ANY PERSON UNAWARES AND UNWITTINGLY MAY FLEE THITHER: AND THEY SHALL BE YOUR REFUGE FROM THE AVENGER OF BLOOD._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

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....

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

THAT THE SLAYER THAT KILLETH [ANY] PERSON UNAWARES, [AND] UNWITTINGLY, MAY FLEE THITHER,.... Who through mere accident, and without design, killed a person, friend or foe, one of his own kindred, or a stranger, without any malice against him, or intention to take away his life: AND THEY SHALL BE YOUR REFUGE FROM THE AVENGER OF BLOOD; from any of the relations of the deceased, who might be stirred up to avenge the blood of his kinsman on the slayer; see Numbers 35:12....

AVENGER Hebrew, "goel," Redemption (Kinsman type). (_ See Scofield) - (Isaiah 59:20). _...

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

KILLETH ANY PERSON. smiteth. soul. Hebrew. _nephesh._ See App-13. Literally. killer, smiting. soul. UNWITTINGLY. unknowingly (anglo-Saxon)....

_That the slayer that killeth any person unawares_ In accordance with these regulations a wide distinction was made between the man who committed wilful murder, and one who slew another by mistake, in ignorance, and unintentionally. (_a_) In the former case the guilty criminal met with no compassion from the Mosaic Code. He was regarded as accursed. The horns of the altar were to be no refuge for him. He was to be dragged from them by force to suffer his doom, nor could rank or wealth exempt him from it (Numbers 35:31-32). (_b_) In the latter case, where life had been taken unawares, a more merciful system of legislation intervened. In contradistinction to the customs of the Greeks and Romans and even of the Middle Ages, which made places of sanctuary available to _criminals of every kind_, the Jewish Lawgiver reserved them for unintentional acts of murder, and for the

_VER._ 1-6. _THE LORD ALSO SPAKE UNTO JOSHUA, SAYING,_ &C.— The great work of distributing the lands being now finished, God orders Joshua to put the last hand to the settlement of the cities of refuge, upon the footing which he had specified to Moses. See on Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19. The slayer was to _stand at the gate of the city,_ ver. 4 as being the place where the courts of justice were held....