Help QuickNav Adv. Options
AMP

AMP

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
The Blue Letter Bible

Joshua 20 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles

Six Cities of Refuge

(Num 35:9–28; Deu 19:1–13 )

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:1

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:1 -

The LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:2

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:2 - “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses,

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:3

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:3 - so that the person (manslayer) who kills any person unintentionally, [fn]without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the [fn]blood avenger.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:4

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:4 - ‘He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and [fn]explain his case to the elders of that city; and they shall take him into [the protection of] the city and give him a place [to stay], so that he may live among them.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:5

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:5 - ‘If the blood avenger pursues him, they shall not hand the offender (manslayer) over to him, because he killed his neighbor [fn]unintentionally and without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:6

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:6 - ‘He shall live in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment [and [fn]if acquitted of murder he must stay there], until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then the offender (manslayer) shall return to his own city and his own house from which he fled.’”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:7

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:7 -

So they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:8

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:8 - Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Jos 20:9

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 20:9 - These were the appointed cities for all the Israelites and for the stranger sojourning (living temporarily) among them, so that whoever killed any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the blood avenger until he had stood before the congregation [for judgment].
See the AMP Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
AMP Footnotes
Lit without knowledge. The Hebrew terminology is not very precise, but adequate nonetheless to distinguish involuntary manslaughter from murder. In modern terms, the person who is guilty only of manslaughter must not have been aware at the time that he was actually killing a human being (like the hunter who mistakes a man for an animal of prey); or if he knew that his actions were affecting another human, he must not have been aware that those actions could result in the death of the other person. In v 5, it is also stated that the perpetrator must not have had hatred for the victim, and it is implied that if hatred was a factor, the killer is automatically ruled a murderer (cf Num 35:20, 21).
Lit redeemer of blood, the idea being that the one who kills the murderer of a relative redeems the guilt of the crime. The avenger was ordinarily a male next-of-kin, and he had the right, or even the responsibility, to execute the guilty party.
Lit speak his word in the hearing of.
Lit without knowledge.
If judged guilty, the killer would be put to death. Otherwise, the time he was required to spend in the city of refuge represented a less severe punishment for involuntary manslaughter. Afterward, he was entitled to return home and live in safety. If the blood avenger killed him then, the avenger would be guilty of murder.
AMP

Amplified Bible Copyright (c) 2015 by

The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631 All rights reserved.

For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
AMP
  [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
AMP
Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

Translations available: King James Version, New King James Version, New Living Translation, New International Version, English Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible 2020, New American Standard Bible 1995, Legacy Standard Bible 2021, New English Translation, Revised Standard Version, American Standard Version, Young's Literal Translation, Darby Translation, Webster's Bible, Hebrew Names Version, Reina-Valera 1960, Latin Vulgate, Westminster Leningrad Codex, Septuagint, Morphological Greek New Testament, and Textus Receptus.