Joshua 20

Joshua 20 is the twentieth chapter of the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible or in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to Joshua, with additions by the high priests Eleazar and Phinehas, but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE. This chapter records the designation of the cities of refuge, a part of a section comprising Joshua 13:1–21:45 about the Israelites allotting the land of Canaan.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 9 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Old Testament references

: ; ;

Analysis

The narrative of Israelites allotting the land of Canaan comprising verses 13:1 to 21:45 of
the Book of Joshua and has the following outline:

Regulations for Cities of Refuge (20:1–6)

The instructions regarding cities of refuge are given in Numbers 35:9–28 and Deuteronomy 4:41–43; 19:1–10 and now are implemented into practice. The main topic is the 'accidental homicide' to a form of justice deriving from familial relations in a tribal context. An 'avenger of blood' was appointed by the familial group to exact 'blood for blood' in cases of homicide for the protection of the family group. The Hebrew word for 'avenger' can also be translated as 'redeemer'. The perpetrator of an accidental homicide, as exemplified in Numbers 35:22–23 and Deuteronomy 19:5, is permitted to escape to designated cities for asylum until the person's guilt or innocence is determined: first, by the elders at the gates of the city, which may simply be a formal request for sanctuary, then followed by a trial before the ‘ê-ḏāh, or 'congregation', that is, the whole people constituted as a religious assembly.
One criterion for deciding intentionality is whether 'there had been previous enmity between the parties'.
The provision that the refugee must remain in that city of refuge until the death of the high priest at that period of time may be intended to set a time-limit on the stalemate produced by a verdict of innocent, which nevertheless cannot revoke the principle right of blood vengeance.

Designation of Cities of Refuge (20:7–9)

The designated cities of refuge, from north to south, relative to the Jordan River were:

West of Jordan	East of Jordan
1. Kedesh, in Naphtali.	1. Golan, in Bashan
2. Shechem, in Mount Ephraim	2. Ramoth-Gilead, in Gad.
3. Hebron, in Judah	3. Bezer, in Reuben

All the cities of refuge are also levitical cities, could be for some reasons:

The cases might be more impartially examined and justly determined by the Levites who presumably better in understanding and following the law of God, without being biased by any group interest
The Levites might be better to counsel revengeful persons to restrain any harsh actions and to provide worship services for the refugee who for the time being might not go up to the house of the Lord.

The cities were all upon mountains, so they might be seen from afar by those who fled there, and seated at a convenient distance one from another, for the benefit of the several tribes, approximately within half a day reach from any part of most of the country.

Verse 9

"The stranger“: The existence of a class of “naturalized foreigners” in Israel was known to comprise:

The “mixed multitude” that came out of Egypt
The remains of the Canaanites who were never 'wholly extirpated'
Captives taken in war
Fugitives, hired servants, merchants

The census of these in Solomon’s time gave a return of 153,600 males, which was nearly equal to about a tenth of the whole population.