Joshua 20
יהושע פרק כ׳
Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: Joshua | Chapter: 20 of 24 | Day: 20 of 742
Date: March 3, 2026
קלאוד על הנ״ך
Joshua chapter 20 shifts from the allocation of tribal territories to the establishment of one of the Torah’s most distinctive legal institutions: the arei miklat, the cities of refuge. God commands Joshua to implement the system first outlined in Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19 — designated cities where a person who has killed someone accidentally (bishgagah, “by mistake, unintentionally”) may flee for protection from the goel hadam (blood avenger), the kinsman of the deceased who has the customary right to exact lethal vengeance.
The procedural details in verses 4-6 reveal a remarkably sophisticated legal system for the ancient world. The accidental killer must flee to a city of refuge, present the case at the city gate before the elders, and be granted admission and residence. If the blood avenger pursues, the city’s elders must refuse to surrender the fugitive, “since the other person was killed without intent and had not been an enemy in the past” (verse 5). The killer then remains in the city until standing trial before the assembly (edah), and must stay there until the death of the reigning high priest — at which point the person is free to return home. This last provision is theologically rich: the high priest’s death serves as a kind of communal atonement, closing the chapter on the bloodshed and allowing a fresh start.
Six cities are designated (verses 7-8), distributed with careful geographic balance: three west of the Jordan — Kedesh in Naphtali (Galilee), Shechem in Ephraim (the central hill country), and Kiriath-arba/Hebron in Judah (the south) — and three east of the Jordan — Bezer in Reuben (the Tableland), Ramoth in Gad (Gilead), and Golan in Manasseh (Bashan). This symmetrical arrangement ensures that no matter where in the land an accidental killing occurs, a city of refuge is accessible within reasonable distance. The Talmud (Makkot 10a-b) elaborates extensively on the practical details: roads to the cities had to be well-maintained and clearly signposted, and the cities themselves had to be of sufficient size to support the refugees.
The institution of cities of refuge represents a profound moral achievement. It balances two competing values: the ancient Near Eastern norm of blood vengeance (deeply embedded in clan-based societies) and the recognition that not all killing is murder. By creating a legal mechanism that protects the accidental killer while still honoring the gravity of human life lost, the Torah — and Joshua’s implementation of it — stakes out a middle ground between unchecked vengeance and moral indifference. Verse 9 emphasizes that this protection extends not only to Israelites but also to the ger (resident alien), underscoring the universality of the right to due process. In a book dominated by warfare and conquest, chapter 20 offers a vision of a settled society governed by law, mercy, and the sanctity of life.
פרק כ׳ · Chapter 20
פסוק א׳ · Verse 1
Hebrew:
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ לֵאמֹֽר׃
English:
GOD said to Joshua:
פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2
Hebrew:
דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר תְּנ֤וּ לָכֶם֙ אֶת־עָרֵ֣י הַמִּקְלָ֔ט אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֥רְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם בְּיַד־מֹשֶֽׁה׃
English:
“Speak to the Israelites: Designate the cities of refuge—about which I commanded you through Moses—
פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3
Hebrew:
לָנ֥וּס שָׁ֙מָּה֙ רוֹצֵ֔חַ מַכֵּה־נֶ֥פֶשׁ בִּשְׁגָגָ֖ה בִּבְלִי־דָ֑עַת וְהָי֤וּ לָכֶם֙ לְמִקְלָ֔ט מִגֹּאֵ֖ל הַדָּֽם׃
English:
to which a manslayer who kills a person by mistake, unintentionally, may flee.amanslayer … may flee I.e., regardless of the victim’s gender. As for a female culprit, the case may have been more complex. They shall serve you as a refuge from the blood avenger.
פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4
Hebrew:
וְנָ֞ס אֶל־אַחַ֣ת ׀ מֵהֶעָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה וְעָמַד֙ פֶּ֚תַח שַׁ֣עַר הָעִ֔יר וְדִבֶּ֛ר בְּאׇזְנֵ֛י זִקְנֵֽי־הָעִ֥יר הַהִ֖יא אֶת־דְּבָרָ֑יו וְאָֽסְפ֨וּ אֹת֤וֹ הָעִ֙ירָה֙ אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וְנָתְנוּ־ל֥וֹ מָק֖וֹם וְיָשַׁ֥ב עִמָּֽם׃
English:
[The slayer] shall flee to one of those cities, stand at the entrance to the city gate, and plead the case before the elders of that city; and they shall offer admission to the city and provide a place in which to live among them.
פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5
Hebrew:
וְכִ֨י יִרְדֹּ֜ף גֹּאֵ֤ל הַדָּם֙ אַחֲרָ֔יו וְלֹא־יַסְגִּ֥רוּ אֶת־הָרֹצֵ֖חַ בְּיָד֑וֹ כִּ֤י בִבְלִי־דַ֙עַת֙ הִכָּ֣ה אֶת־רֵעֵ֔הוּ וְלֹא־שֹׂנֵ֥א ה֛וּא ל֖וֹ מִתְּמ֥וֹל שִׁלְשֽׁוֹם׃
English:
Should the blood avenger come in pursuit, they shall not give up the manslayer, since the other person was killed without intent and had not been an enemy in the past.
פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6
Hebrew:
וְיָשַׁ֣ב ׀ בָּעִ֣יר הַהִ֗יא עַד־עׇמְד֞וֹ לִפְנֵ֤י הָעֵדָה֙ לַמִּשְׁפָּ֔ט עַד־מוֹת֙ הַכֹּהֵ֣ן הַגָּד֔וֹל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִֽהְיֶ֖ה בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֑ם אָ֣ז ׀ יָשׁ֣וּב הָרוֹצֵ֗חַ וּבָ֤א אֶל־עִירוֹ֙ וְאֶל־בֵּית֔וֹ אֶל־הָעִ֖יר אֲשֶׁר־נָ֥ס מִשָּֽׁם׃
English:
[The slayer] shall live in that city until there is a trial before the assembly, [and remain there] until the death of the high priest who is in office at that time. Thereafter, the manslayer may return home, to the town from which that person fled.”
פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7
Hebrew:
וַיַּקְדִּ֜שׁוּ אֶת־קֶ֤דֶשׁ בַּגָּלִיל֙ בְּהַ֣ר נַפְתָּלִ֔י וְאֶת־שְׁכֶ֖ם בְּהַ֣ר אֶפְרָ֑יִם וְאֶת־קִרְיַ֥ת אַרְבַּ֛ע הִ֥יא חֶבְר֖וֹן בְּהַ֥ר יְהוּדָֽה׃
English:
So they set aside Kedesh in the hill country of Naphtali in Galilee, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba—that is, Hebron—in the hill country of Judah.
פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8
Hebrew:
וּמֵעֵ֜בֶר לְיַרְדֵּ֤ן יְרִיחוֹ֙ מִזְרָ֔חָה נָתְנ֞וּ אֶת־בֶּ֧צֶר בַּמִּדְבָּ֛ר בַּמִּישֹׁ֖ר מִמַּטֵּ֣ה רְאוּבֵ֑ן וְאֶת־רָאמֹ֤ת בַּגִּלְעָד֙ מִמַּטֵּה־גָ֔ד וְאֶת־[גּוֹלָ֥ן] (גלון) בַּבָּשָׁ֖ן מִמַּטֵּ֥ה מְנַשֶּֽׁה׃
English:
And across the Jordan, east of Jericho, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness, in the Tableland, from the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9
Hebrew:
אֵ֣לֶּה הָיוּ֩ עָרֵ֨י הַמּוּעָדָ֜ה לְכֹ֣ל ׀ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְלַגֵּר֙ הַגָּ֣ר בְּתוֹכָ֔ם לָנ֣וּס שָׁ֔מָּה כׇּל־מַכֵּה־נֶ֖פֶשׁ בִּשְׁגָגָ֑ה וְלֹ֣א יָמ֗וּת בְּיַד֙ גֹּאֵ֣ל הַדָּ֔ם עַד־עׇמְד֖וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י הָעֵדָֽה׃ {פ}
English:
Those were the towns designatedbdesignated Meaning of Heb. uncertain. for all the Israelites and for the resident aliens among them, to which anyone who killed a person unintentionally might flee, and not die by the hand of the blood avenger before standing trial by the assembly.