Cities of Refuge

[2] The Bible names the six cities of refuge as follows: Golan, Ramoth, and Bosor to the east (left bank) of the Jordan River;[3] and Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the western (right) side.

[6][8] In the setting of the Book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites have conquered several kingdoms on the east side of the Jordan river, and are about to enter the land of Canaan.

[17][18] The Deuteronomic Code is regarded by textual scholars as dating from the reign of Josiah,[21] which postdates the fall of the Kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians; this is considered to be the reason that only three (unnamed) cities of refuge are mentioned in the Deuteronomic Code,[27] with a further three only being added if the Israelite territory was expanded,[28] as by the time of Josiah's reign, the cities east of the Jordan were no longer controlled by the Israelites.

The lack of importance given by the Deuteronomic Code to the identity of the cities of refuge is considered by scholars to be an attempt to continue the right of asylum, even though the sanctuaries (apart from the Temple in Jerusalem) had been abolished by Josiah's reforms.

[35] The substitute cities of refuge were constrained to be only of moderate size, since, if they were too small, there could be scarcity of food, forcing the refugee to imperil himself by leaving the city to find sustenance, and, if they were too large, then it would be too easy for an avenger of blood to hide in the crowds;[17] nevertheless, the surrounding region was required to be quite populous since that way, an attack by the avenger of blood could be more easily repelled.

[17] The altar of the Temple in Jerusalem also came to be regarded as a place of sanctuary, but only counted for the officiating priest, and even then only temporarily, as the priest ultimately had to be taken to a city of refuge;[36] when Jerusalem was under Seleucid control, Demetrius I offered to turn the Temple into an official place of sanctuary, though the offer was turned down.

[17] The rabbinical sources differentiated between four forms of killing, sometimes giving examples:[37] According to classical rabbinical authorities, the cities of refuge were not places of protection, but places where atonement was made;[17] Philo explained this principle as being based on the theory that an innocent man would never be chosen by God as the instrument of another man's death, and therefore those claiming refuge at these cities must have committed some sin before they had killed, for which their exile acts as an atonement.