Глава 20

1–6. Divine command regarding cities of refuge. 7–9. The designated cities are three in West Jordan and three in East Jordan. Joshua 20:1. And the Lord spoke to Jesus, saying: After the division of the land of Canaan between the tribes, during the same national meeting in Shiloh, another divine command about cities of refuge was fulfilled, given by the Lord to Moses (Num. 35) and repeated by the latter to the people (Deut. 4:41–43). The fulfillment of this command, repeated to Joshua when the time had come for its implementation, is preceded by a brief summary of it by the biblical writer, which indicates the purpose of the establishment (Joshua 20:3), the conditions for using the cities of refuge (Joshua 20:4–5) and the time of stay in them (Joshua 20:6). Joshua 20:3. so that a murderer who has killed a person by mistake, without intent, can escape there; let [these cities] be your refuge [so that the murderer does not die] from the avenger of blood [until he appears before the congregation for judgment]. The purpose of establishing cities of refuge was to prevent its disastrous consequences when applied to an unintentional murderer (“by mistake, without intent”), who could find safe refuge from the avenger of blood, which was usually the closest relative of the deceased. The signs of unintentional murder are detailed in Numbers 35:22–24, Deuteronomy 19:4–6. The words “[these cities... so that the murderer may not die... until he appears before the community for judgment]” placed in brackets are not read in the Hebrew text, but are found in the Greek copies, ancient and later, as well as in the ancient 213 and current Slavic translation. In their content, they are fully consistent with what is said in Numbers 35:12. Joshua 20:4. And whoever flees to one of these cities, let him stand at the gates of the city and tell his business aloud to the elders of this city; and they will receive him into their city and give him a place to live with them; Joshua 20:5. and when the avenger of blood pursues him, they should not hand over his murderer, because he killed his neighbor without intent, and did not hate him yesterday or the next day; A murderer could find a safe haven in the city of refuge under the only condition if he actually turned out to have killed his neighbor without intent, according to the court of the elders of the city, to whom he told his case out loud. The special applications of this law are indicated in Num. 35:24–25, Deut.19:11–13. Joshua 20:6. let him live in this city until he appears before the congregation for judgment, until the great priest who will be in those days dies. And then let the murderer return and go to his city and to his house, to the city from which he fled. The residence time of the unintentional killer in the city of refuge is determined by two periods, due to the brevity of the presentation, combined together: “until he appears before society for judgment, until the great priest dies.” The mutual relationship of these terms is clear from Deut. 19:11–12 and Numbers 35:24–25, which says that if someone who has fled to the city of refuge by the judgment of the elders of the city in which he lived before turns out to be an intentional murderer, then the elders must take him from the city of refuge and hand him over to the avenger of blood; and if someone who has retired to the city of refuge and, by the judgment of the elders of the city in which he previously lived, turns out to have unintentionally killed his neighbor, then he must be returned to the city of refuge and remain there until the death of the great priest. There is no specific time limit for the residence of an unintentional killer in the city of refuge; its duration is made dependent on the life expectancy of the high priest during which the unintentional murder occurred; and since God controls the life and death of people, it follows that the determination of this duration was left to the will of the Lord. And in this law of Moses, as in others, the idea of ​​God as the Supreme Judge was expressed. Joshua 20:7. And they separated Kedesh in Galilee on Mount Naphtali, Shechem on Mount Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba, otherwise Hebron, on Mount Judah; From the cities of the West Jordanian country, those that were located in three main regions were separated (according to the Hebrew text “vaiyakdishu” - “dedicated”) as cities of refuge: “Kedesh in Galilee *14 on Mount Naphtali” (Joshua 12:22), i.e. in the northern district of the region, which was later called Galilee; “Shechem on Mount Ephraim, and... Hebron” (Joshua 10:3,17:7). Joshua 20:8. beyond the Jordan, against Jericho to the east, they separated: Bezer in the desert, on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh; For the East Jordan country, 214 cities of refuge were appointed by Moses (Deut. 4:43). “Bezer in the desert” (Slavic – “Bosor”) was located on the eastern side of the Dead Sea in Kasur el-Besheir, as the ruins southwest of Divon are called (Joshua 13:7), “Ramoth in Gilead” (Joshua 13:26: “Ramath Mitzfa”) and “Golan in Basan”; its place, although the whole region received its name from it (Gavlanitis, currently Jolan), was not found among the numerous ruins preserved in it; presumably it points east from the northern end of Lake Gennesaret. All these cities were also cities of priests or Levites (Joshua 20:7,21:10–11,21,32, etc.). The choice of cities of refuge from among such cities had, without a doubt, the purpose that the priests or Levites living in them, through their participation in the trial of murder cases, would contribute to the fairest possible resolution of them, and the special significance of the cities, as dedicated to God, would ensure the safety of the involuntary murderers who sought refuge in them. V. K. Lebedev, 231; 240; 386. In LXX: Γαλειλαίᾳ, in the Hebrew text “galil” - “district”. This country is designated here in the Hebrew text by the words “beyond the Jordan, opposite Jericho, to the east.” The words “against Jericho” are not found in the ancient Vatican list. This omission deserves attention in the sense that even without the omitted words it is clear what kind of country it is, and that none of the cities named below were located against Jericho. You might be interested in: