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Joshua 20

Joshua 20 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Joshua 20 sets out a merciful legal provision for accidental killing. The chapter explains how a person could flee to a city of refuge, present his case, and receive protection until a proper hearing. It shows Israel balancing justice with care for the innocent.

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What happens in Joshua 20?

The LORD instructs Joshua to appoint cities of refuge according to Moses' earlier command. These cities give shelter to someone who kills another without intent, protecting that person from the avenger of blood. The fugitive must state his case at the city gate and remain there under protection until trial and the death of the high priest. Joshua and the Israelites designate six cities across both sides of the Jordan. The provision applies to Israelites and foreigners alike, making room for justice and mercy together.

This chapter comes near the end of Joshua's distribution of the land. After the tribes receive their inheritances, the book turns to the legal and communal structures needed for life in the land. Joshua 20 follows the land allotments and prepares for related topics such as Levitical cities and the role of justice among the tribes.

Themes to notice

  • Mercy and protectionThe cities of refuge give safety to someone whose killing was accidental rather than intentional.
  • Fair judgmentThe fugitive does not remain unexamined but waits for a hearing before the assembly.
  • Community orderThe chapter shows Israel building a society where justice, restraint, and responsibility work together.

Questions for Joshua 20

  • Why does the chapter require the accused person to wait for a trial before the assembly?
  • How do the cities of refuge show both justice and mercy?
  • What is the significance of these cities being available to both Israelites and foreigners?

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Joshua 20

Six Cities of Refuge

1Then the LORD said to Joshua,2“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,3so that anyone who kills another unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.4When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before its elders, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them.5Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand, because that man killed his neighbor accidentally without prior malice.6He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his own home in the city from which he fled.”

7So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.8And beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Bezer on the wilderness plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.9These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

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