seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 19:1 When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land he is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses, 2 then set aside for yourselves three cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 Determine the distances involved and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that a person who kills someone may flee for refuge to one of these cities.
4 This is the rule concerning anyone who kills a person and flees there for safety—anyone who kills a neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. 5 For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. 7 This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.
8 If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them, 9 because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk always in obedience to him—then you are to set aside three more cities. 10 Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.
11 But if out of hate someone lies in wait, assaults and kills a neighbor, and then flees to one of these cities, 12 the killer shall be sent for by the town elders, be brought back from the city, and be handed over to the avenger of blood to die. 13 Show no pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.
14 Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Here's the link to the commentary I use.You shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of the land: God instructed Israel to make three cities of refuge in the Promised Land, and instructed them to make them “centrally located” (in the midst of the land).
Prepare roads for yourself: The people of Israel were to make good roads to each city of refuge, so the cities would be accessible.
The case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: The cities of refuge were for the protection of the person who killed another accidentally or in self-defense. In ancient Israel, when one was killed, it was the responsibility of the avenger of blood to make certain the murder was punished.
But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally: We can easily imagine that those truly guilty of murder would, at some time or another, seek protection in the city of refuge. So, whenever a manslayer came to seek protection at a city of refuge, the elders of the city were to judge his case and determine if he was truly worthy of protection.
Deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood: If it was determined at this trial that the man was really guilty of murder, then he would be delivered to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. There was no protection of the guilty within the walls of a city of refuge.
Put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you: God was just as concerned that the guilty be punished as He was that the innocent be protected (lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land, Deuteronomy 19:10).
One witness shall not rise: One witness was never enough to establish a fact in a Biblical court of law. One needed two or three witness to establish a matter.
Life shall be for life, eye for eye: However, retribution was always limited by the eye for eye principle. This law was meant to be a check to our desire to revenge, not a license for revenge.
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth: In Matthew 5:38-39, Jesus quoted this passage in His teaching on the true interpretation of the law. He does not say that the eye for eye principle is wrong; rather, He simply condemns the use of it to make it an obligation to exact revenge against someone who has personally offended me.
Numbers and Deuteronomy are like two witnesses. It's the same story only told from two different points of view. I've skipped a lot of the repeats.One story I skipped was the settlement with the sisters who didn't have male family. They are the ones who were granted land. The question was... What happens if they marry? Well, the sisters were required to marry only those from their original tribe. In other words, Jacob had 12 sons [counting Joseph's boys]. The girls were required to marry someone from their tribe.
I also skipped how the Israelites moved into Canaan and divided the land. Two of the tribes settled on one side of the Jordan while the rest settled in Canaan. When the subject came up, the question of war balanced the scales. See, the two tribes who settled on the other side of Jordan, had to agree to go into Canaan with the rest of the Israelites and fight for the land. After all the land was conquered, then the men from the two tribes could return home and begin their "peaceful" lives.
I could not pass the "Eye for an Eye" story though.
I'm in Arizona. Phoenix, not far from me, is the Refuge City locally. Today, they seem to have a different use for the Cities of Refuge all across the country. There is even talk of rescinding the designation... meaning the United States will have no more cities of refuge. IMHO, it's pretty evident, God set up the Cities in Canaan. He knew men were going to "Accidently" kill their neighbors. Hunting accidents, farming accidents, even accidents with weapons.... but the cities were only a refuge for the innocent.
There still had to be a trial. At least two witnesses had to testify against the person. If two witnesses could not be found, the verdict had to be "accidental".
One guy couldn't ride into town and say "that man killed my brother" and be allowed to gun a man down in the street. If it was murder, it was to be decided in a court of law, and the accuser had to bring some back up...
Capital punishment was reserved for those proven guilty.
Punishment, the eye for an eye portion of the chapter, had to fit the crime. If a person killed another person "intentionally", like gunning them down in the street, and it could be proven by reliable witnesses, then they would be put to death.
If I gouge out your eye.... then you have the right to gouge out my eye. But if I gouge out your eye... I don't deserve the death penalty.
The idea was.... Everyone gets a fair shake.
The idea was... Everyone would know... actions have consequences.
Refuge Cities and Eye for an Eye...
