20:1 Once again, and for the last time recorded in the book, the Lord addresses Joshua (cf. comments on 1:2; 13:1). For some reason the narrator varies the speech formula: rather than the familiar Hebrew wayyoʾmer yhwh ʾel (“and the Lord said to”; e.g., 1:1), these words are introduced by wayedabber yhwh ʾel (“the Lord said to”). The more restricted pattern seems to be associated with more strongly directive statements in somewhat stereotyped settings, although no hard and fast distinction can be drawn. Still, the variation of formula sets this divine statement apart from the rest in the book.

20:2–6 While the Lord addresses Joshua with the reminder of the command earlier given to Moses, the instruction is intended for the “people of Israel,” and “they” will make the allocations in verses 7–8. A consistent feature of the provision of the cities of refuge is that eligibility is restricted to manslaughter and thus does not apply to any other form of asylum seeking. The conditions are stated here in verses 3 and 5 and again in the summary of verse 9. They display a notable relationship with the earlier texts (cf. table 2.5).

TABLE 2.5: Conditions of Manslaughter

Numbers 35 sets out the representative actions that qualify as either murder or manslaughter, while Deuteronomy 19 provides a smaller set of such instances. The summary condition of Numbers 35:11, that the action that occasions death occurred bishegagah (“without intent”), is different from simple absence of intent and is close to the restatement of Deuteronomy, that it occurred bibli daʿat (“unintentionally”) or, in both cases, “unawares.” That is, it was purely accidental. The third condition might at first glance appear to be without malice aforethought, but this simply stipulates that the “manslayer” had no previous record of enmity with the deceased.

The process thus ensures that private vengeance does not further pollute the land nor contribute to an escalation of injustice in Israel. It does not assume or ensure the innocence of the one who flees to escape a vendetta killing, but rather ensures that justice will be done when due judicial process has taken place. Somewhat akin the case of Cain, who was protected while wandering, continued and enforced residence in the city of refuge is itself a punishment for causing a neighbor’s untimely death—it is a sort of exile.

20:7–8 The assignment of six cities had previously been commanded by God (Num. 35:13–14; Deut. 19:2, 8–9), and here it is implemented by the people of Israel. The first slate of three cities (Josh. 20:7) comes from among the tribal settlements west of the Jordan and proceeds from north to south, the reverse of the typical pattern in Joshua. Kedesh, in the region of Naphtali, is about 16 miles (26 km) north of the Sea of Galilee. Shechem is centrally located but toward the southern border of Manasseh in the hill country of Ephraim. Hebron is in the south, part of Caleb’s inheritance in 14:14. The Transjordan cities (20:8), previously named in Deuteronomy 4:43, are listed from south to north in the manner typical of the book. None of the three has been identified with certainty. Bezer in the “wilderness on the tableland” probably aligns roughly with the north end of the Dead Sea, but some distance to the east. Ramoth in Gilead is in Gad’s territory. In the north, Golan beneath Bashan roughly aligns with the Sea of Galilee, laying some way east.

20:9 The extended summary includes material from Numbers 35:12, 15, adding the inclusion of the sojourner in the provision of the asylum cities. In ending with these details and repeating the necessity of standing “before the congregation” to receive justice, the narrator accomplishes at least two things: First, this elevates asylum in the newly settled land, emphasizing the practice of justice in the new nation. Second, it signals obedience to the Lord’s decree, a running theme in the settlement texts.