Cities of Refuge
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.
In Exodus 21:13 these cities of refuge were set up and in Numbers 35:10-15 the law concerning the cities is detailed in that they were to be only for accidental death. God wants these cities to be set up again in their new permanent location. The explanation is summarized once again and some additional instructions are given.
The first instruction is that the country was to be divided into three parts with equal distances between the cities of refuge.
The second instruction regards the use of the cities, that only those who kill someone accidentally are allowed refuge.
The third instruction is that as God expands their territory, there should be more refuge cities set up so that those who are seeking refuge can get to one quickly and avoid causing the sin of someone seeking vengeance for an accidental death. If they cause the death of an innocent because the cities are too far apart, they will be held accountable by the Lord.
The last instruction has to do with not allowing the guilty to seek refuge and stay in these cities or they will be held responsible for the murder committed by the guilty party.
An interesting side note… for whatever reason, God never does expand their territory and so only the three original refuge cities are ever needed.
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.
God doesn’t allow fraud or the theft of land. What he has given to one cannot be taken by anyone else.
Witnesses
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.
To guard against those who would pervert justice to suit their own means, God requires that only one witness is not enough to convict anyone of a crime. The matter must be established by two or three witnesses. In addition to this, the witnesses must stand before the priest, God and the judges. The judges are to do their own investigating and if the witness is found to be lying, they are to receive the very punishment they were hoping to inflict on the person they gave false testimony for. We see this in the story of Haman and Mordecai – Haman was hung on the same gallows he intended for Mordecai and Mordecai took Haman’s position in the King’s Court. This is the actual reference for showing no pity and giving life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, etc. This scripture has been taken out of context to be used for revenge, when God placed it in scripture for justice against false testimony. It was designed to keep those who would bear witness, honest in their testimony.
Deuteronomy 20
Going to War
1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
Israel was more of a camp at this point than a kingdom. But God was with them, so Moses reminds them. Having God on their side means that they need never be afraid. They can trust that the same God who brought them this far and gave them this land will continue to be with them and will give them the victory.
5 The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not yet begun to live in it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may begin to live in it. 6 Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. 7 Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.” 8 Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.” 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.
God made provision to exclude certain people in battles. These people would not have the battle in their hearts and minds anyway, but I find it interesting to note that when the United States implemented the draft, some of these same exclusions applied. In the case of those who were frightened, it protected the other soldiers so that the feeling of doubt and fear did not spread among the ranks. The commanders were to be men who were especially strong and courageous, able to lead others without fear.
10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. 11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. 14 As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy[a] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.
19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?[b] 20 However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.
God provides for the surrender of certain cities, but not the ones who specifically did detestable things in his eyes. God wanted to protect them from learning the evil practices of those people. Additionally, he gives them some wisdom regarding fruit bearing trees. These were to be protected during times of siege and not destroyed to make war, otherwise they would suffer the lack of food later since fruit trees take years to produce and a war could wipe out entire orchards. This would cause hardship later when they conquered that city.
Footnotes
Deuteronomy 20:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
Deuteronomy 20:19 Or down to use in the siege, for the fruit trees are for the benefit of people.
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