Deuteronomy 19:1-13

LESSON FIFTEEN Deuteronomy 19:1-21; Deuteronomy 21:1-9

f. THE SANCTITY OF LIFE AND PROPERTY (Deuteronomy 19:1-21; Deuteronomy 21:1-9)

(1) CONCERNING MURDER (Deuteronomy 19:1-13; Deuteronomy 21:1-9)

(a) The Cities of Refuge (Deuteronomy 19:1-13)

When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; 2 thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it. 3 Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which Jehovah thy God causeth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee thither.
4 And this is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee thither and live: whoso killeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past; 5 as when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he dieth; he shall flee unto one of these cities and live: 6 lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. 7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee. 8 And if Jehovah thy God enlarge thy border, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; 9 if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three: 10 that innocent blood be not shed in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
11 But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally so that he dieth, and he flee into one of these cities; 12 then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 19:1-13

311.

Note the strong element of specific faith in Deuteronomy 19:1-2. What example is in this for us?

312.

Suppose the avenger of blood was not of the temperament to take vengeance?

313.

In the example given, why would there be a problem if the nearest of kin knew it was only an accident?

314.

What three cities were involved in the description here? What three were added later?

315.

First degree murder was always punished. Why?

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 19:1-13

When the Lord your God has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God gives you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses;
2 You shall set apart three cities for you in the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess.
3 You shall prepare the road, and divide the territory of your land, which the Lord your God gives you to possess, into three parts, so that any manslayer can flee to them.
4 And this is the case of the slayer who shall flee there that he may live. Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, for whom he had no enmity in time past;

5 As when a man goes into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand strikes with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips off the handle and lights on his neighbor, and kills him; he may flee to one of those cities and live;
6 Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his [mind and] heart are hot with anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; although the slayer was not worthy of death, since he had not been at enmity with him previously.
7 Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three [refuge] cities.
8 And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He has sworn to your fathers to do, and gives you all the land which He promised to your fathers to give,
9If you keep all these commandments to do them, which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to walk always in His ways; then you shall add three other cities to these three,

10 Lest innocent blood be shed in your land, which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance, and so blood guilt be upon you.
11 But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and attacks him and wounds him mortally so that he dies, and the assailant flees into one of these cities,
12 Then the elders of his own city shall send and fetch him there, and give him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die.
13 Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall clear Israel of the guilt of innocent blood, that it may be well with you.

COMMENT 19:1-13

See also Ch. Deuteronomy 4:41-43 and notes. There we had the east-side cities set apart. Now provision is made, not only for the first three, but a second three, and also three cities more (Deuteronomy 19:9) on the west side. The controversy as to whether the former passage is chronologically out of place, is not worth the energy of debate. We will leave it where it is, as a part of the divine record, and leave this where it is for the same reason. As will be seen below, there is no good reason for changing the order of the two passages.

WHEN JEHOVAH. SHALL CUT OFF THE NATIONS (Deuteronomy 19:1)This beginning phrase makes it seem obvious that the refuge cities Moses now refers to are the west side cities, not the east, for the conquering of the east side, as well as the setting aside of the refuge cities on that side of the Jordan, was history, and Israel was now camping near the banks of the Jordan, yea, not far from the water's edge! See Deuteronomy 1:1, Deuteronomy 3:27, etc. In view of the fact that the tribes of Ephraim, Gad and Manasseh (except those able to go forth to war, who were to assist Israel) were to stay on the east side, it would only be natural for Moses to go ahead and set apart the cities on that side (Deuteronomy 4:41-43).

THOU SHALT SET APART THREE CITIES (Deuteronomy 19:2)McGarvey remarks on the sequence of setting these cities aside thus:

As the Pentateuch now stands, the first command on the subject is in the thirty-fifth chapter of Numbers. There the order to appoint cities of refuge is given, the number then is stated, and the law by which their use is to be regulated is elaborated. No one of the cities is named. Next, in Deuteronomy 4:41-43, it is said that Moses, after the conquest of the country east of the Jordan, selected three of them, and their names are given. Next, in Deuteronomy 19:1-13, Moses directs that after they shall have possessed the country west of the Jordan, they shall select three cities of refuge on that side; he repeats the law less elaborately, and orders that if Jehovah shall enlarge their borders, and give them all the land promised to their fathers, they shall add three other cities on that side [Deuteronomy 19:9], so that all the manslayers may have the benefit of a place of refuge. Their borders were never thus extended until the reign of David, and they remained so only till the close of Solomon's reign, and consequently these three additional cities were never appointed.

In Joshua 20:1-9 these three west-side cities are set apart: Kedesh in Naphtali, Shechem in Ephraim, and Hebron in Judah. The east-side cities are again listed.

Exodus 21:12-13, it has been mistakenly thought, provides that the altarwas appointed by God as a refuge for a manslayer. But that law, instead of making the altar of God an asylum for the manslayer, positively forbids its use as such, It was to furnish no protection, not even temporary protection, from death. A murderer might think, Surely no one would have the gall to kill a man on God's altar! Or, Surely I will not be killed here, lest human blood defile the altar! But God would say of a presumptuous murderer, take him off the altardo not spare him. So Adonijah and Joab both fled to the altar with the hope of being sparedbut were slain, 1 Kings 1:50-53; 1 Kings 2:24-25; 1 Kings 2:28-34.

The cities of refuge, on the other hand, were not appointed to provide permanent asylum for murderers, but that every man who killed his neighbor might find protection there until the time of his trial, and might remain there after his trial, if he was not found worthy of death, until the death of the high priest. He could then return to his home if he wished.

THOU SHALT PREPARE THEE THE WAY (Deuteronomy 19:3)The Amplified O. T. renders Deuteronomy 19:3, You shall prepare the road, and divide the territory of your land, which the Lord your God gives you to possess, into three parts, so that any manslayer can flee to them. With a careful division of the land into thirds, and roads to the cities, access to them would be easier.

THREE CITIES (Deuteronomy 19:7). ADD THREE CITIES MORE FOR THEE, BESIDES THESE THREE (Deuteronomy 19:9)See note above. We have assumed that these last three are not again mentioned in the Bible, and probably were never appointed. The appointment of the six cities was when. but the appointment of the last three was IF thou shalt keep all this commandment, etc. (Deuteronomy 19:9). These periods were such brief flashes in Israel's history the job apparently never got done.

BUT IF ANY MAN HATE HIS NEIGHBOR (Deuteronomy 19:11)Whether this were true or not would be determined during his trial. Cf. Numbers 35:9-34.

THOU SHALT PUT AWAY THE INNOCENT BLOOD (Deuteronomy 19:13)See Deuteronomy 21:9 and notes, below.