Joshua 20:2

Cities of refuge. The word “refuge” comes from the Heb. qalat, which means “to contract,” “to draw,” “to take in,” “to receive.” Hence, the idea “asylum,” or “refuge.” The Hebrew has the article before “refuge,” as do also the LXX and the Syriac, thus making the statement more definite in referring back to what God had said before. The law of the cities of refuge is given in full in Num. 35 and Deut. 19. The sacredness of human life is one of the great principles of the Christian religion, which is generally not recognized in pagan and atheistic concepts. Very early God sought to impress upon His people that to put an end to a man’s life under any circumstances was a serious matter. The seriousness of it rests in the fact that man was made in the divine likeness and was thus in kinship with God. After the Flood, God emphatically declared that “whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Gen. 9:6; see also Ex. 21:12, 14). God had promised a place where the unintentional manslayer might flee (Ex. 21:13), but no such provision was made for the murderer. God sought to regulate the ancient custom of private vengeance, whereby the punishment of the murderer devolved upon the nearest relative or the next heir of the one who had been murdered. Israel stood alone among the nations in the value set upon human life, and now God was to teach them still further concerning the justice as well as the mercy of God. God leads men only as rapidly as they are able to comprehend divine truth. This principle was characteristic of the Hebrew legislation, given by God through Moses. It adapted itself to the condition of men, but always tended toward a perfection that the people were not at first capable of realizing. Thus slavery, polygamy, free divorce, were for a time tolerated, and laws were enacted regulating these practices, though these practices were neither ordained nor approved by God.

The feeling was deeply rooted in the Hebrew mind that the nearest of kin was the guardian of his brother’s life, and for this reason he was bound to avenge his death. Instead of crossing this feeling, or seeking wholly to uproot it, God placed this emotion under temporary, salutary checks, which would prevent it from inflicting great injustice where no crime had really been committed.

Whereof I spake. Spoken by Moses and recorded by him, so that Joshua might have access to the information (Ex. 21:13; Num. 35:9-34; Deut. 19:1-13). Thus the Pentateuch was probably in existence in somewhat the same form as it is today when the book of Joshua was written.