Joshua 20:6

_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._ Until the death of the high priest. His death secured the complete deliverance of the manslayer from his sin, only because he had been anointed with the holy oil (Numbers 35:25), the symbol of the Holy Spirit; and thus the death of the earthly high priest became a type of that of the heavenly One (Hebrews 9:14)....

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

AND HE SHALL DWELL IN THAT CITY UNTIL HE SHALL STAND BEFORE THE CONGREGATION FOR JUDGMENT,.... That is, until his cause was heard in the court of judicature in his own city, or in any other to which the avenger of blood should appeal: see Numbers 35:24; who if they found him guilty of death, they put him to death; but if only guilty of accidental manslaughter, then they delivered him up to his city of refuge for safety, where he was to abide UNTIL THE DEATH OF THE HIGH PRIEST THAT SHALL BE IN THOSE DAYS; see Numbers 35:25; THEN SHALL THE SLAYER RETURN, AND COME UNTO HIS OWN CITY, AND UNTO HIS OWN HOUSE, UNTO THE CITY FROM WHENCE HE FLED; and live with his family in the enjoyment of his possessions and estates, honours, and privileges belonging to him, a

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

UNTIL. The cities of refuge, being cities of the priests, bore the sin of the mauslayer. What the high priest was to the Levites, the Levites were to the nation. On the Day of Atonement, therefore, all the sins of the nation came into his hand. On his death he was freed from the Law (Romans 6:7; Romans 7:1), and those whom he represented were freed also. Compare Romans 5:9.Hebrews 7:23; Hebrews 7:23 for the contrast....

_until the death of the high priest_ "To the tyme that the great priest dye," Wyclif. The protection granted was provisional, until the manslayer and the pursuer could be duly heard by the assembly of the elders of the city where the occurrence took place, and the guilt or innocence of the former established. In the latter case the homicide was safely lodged in the City of Refuge until the death of the anointed High priest (Numbers 35:25). _then shall the slayer return_ The death of the ruling High priest, "the head of the theocracy and representative of the whole people," was regarded as of such importance that any other death was, so to speak, forgotten in consequence, and an amnesty ensued during which the manslayer was at liberty to return to his home. Thus as on the one hand by disallowing compensation by money in the case of wilful murder, the Jewish Law shewed a just regard

_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....

_God's Instructions to Joshua 20:1-6_ 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. 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 neighbor unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. 6 And he shall dwell in this city, until he stand before the congregation for judgme