
Text -- Joshua 20:3 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Wesley: Jos 20:3 - -- Heb. Through ignorance, or error, or mistake, and without knowledge. The same thing twice repeated to cut off all the expectations that wilful murdere...
Heb. Through ignorance, or error, or mistake, and without knowledge. The same thing twice repeated to cut off all the expectations that wilful murderers might have of protection here; God having declared, that such should be taken even from his altar, that they might be killed.

Wesley: Jos 20:3 - -- The nearest kinsman, who had right or power to demand, or take vengeance of the slaughter.
The nearest kinsman, who had right or power to demand, or take vengeance of the slaughter.
JFB -> Jos 20:1-3
JFB: Jos 20:1-3 - -- (See Num. 35:9-28; Deu 19:1-13). The command here recorded was given on their going to occupy their allotted settlements. The sanctuaries were not tem...
(See Num. 35:9-28; Deu 19:1-13). The command here recorded was given on their going to occupy their allotted settlements. The sanctuaries were not temples or altars, as in other countries, but inhabited cities; and the design was not to screen criminals, but only to afford the homicide protection from the vengeance of the deceased's relatives until it should have been ascertained whether the death had resulted from accident and momentary passion, or from premeditated malice. The institution of the cities of refuge, together with the rules prescribed for the guidance of those who sought an asylum within their walls, was an important provision, tending to secure the ends of justice as well as of mercy.

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Poole -> Jos 20:3
Poole: Jos 20:3 - -- Unawares and unwittingly Heb. through ignorance, or error, or mistake, and without knowledge ; the same thing twice repeated, to cut off all the cla...
Unawares and unwittingly Heb. through ignorance, or error, or mistake, and without knowledge ; the same thing twice repeated, to cut off all the claims and expectations that wilful murderers might have of protection here; and God having declared that such should be taken even from his altar, that they might be killed, Exo 21:14 ; and accordingly Joab was by Solomon’ s order killed even at the altar, 1Ki 2:28-31,34 . It is the more strange and impudent that any Christians should make their sanctuaries give protection to such persons whom God hath so expressly excepted from it, which the papists do; and their doctors are not ashamed to defend it upon frivolous reasons.
The avenger of blood the kinsman, who had right or power to demand or take vengeance of the slaughter.
Haydock -> Jos 20:3
Haydock: Jos 20:3 - -- Of blood, and authorized to kill the manslayer, (Menochius) if he find him out of one of these cities. See Numbers xxxv. 6., and Deuteronomy xix. 4....
Of blood, and authorized to kill the manslayer, (Menochius) if he find him out of one of these cities. See Numbers xxxv. 6., and Deuteronomy xix. 4. Revenge was never lawful: but to prosecute offenders in the courts of justice, (Calmet) or agreeably to the law of God, can never deserve blame. (Haydock) ---
If some of the saints of the old law seem to have taken delight in revenge, their expressions must be explained in a favourable sense. David, who is accused of this crime, (Calmet) repels the charge with horror, Psalm vii. 5. The evils which he denounces to his adversaries, were predictions of what they had reason to expect, Psalm lvii. 11., and Jeremias xi. 20. (Haydock) ---
If some of the Jews looked upon vengeance as lawful, it cannot be a matter of surprise, when we reflect that even some, who have been taught the mild law of the gospel, think themselves bound, in some cases, to revenge an affront. (Calmet) ---
So far have the maxims of the world supplanted Christianity in their breasts! How severely does Jacob rebuke his children for what they had done to the Sichemites, though they falsely thought that the affront offered to their sister, would justify them! (Genesis xxxiv.) (Haydock)
Gill -> Jos 20:3
Gill: Jos 20:3 - -- That the slayer that killeth any person unawares, and unwittingly, may flee thither,.... Who through mere accident, and without design, killed a per...
That the slayer that killeth any person unawares, and unwittingly, may flee thither,.... Who through mere accident, and without design, killed a person, friend or foe, one of his own kindred, or a stranger, without any malice against him, or intention to take away his life:
and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood; from any of the relations of the deceased, who might be stirred up to avenge the blood of his kinsman on the slayer; see Num 35:12.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jos 20:3
NET Notes: Jos 20:3 Heb “so that the one who kills, taking life accidentally without knowledge, may flee there.”
Geneva Bible -> Jos 20:3
Geneva Bible: Jos 20:3 That the slayer that killeth [any] person ( a ) unawares [and] unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. ...

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Jos 20:1-9
TSK Synopsis: Jos 20:1-9 - --1 God commands,7 and the children of Israel appoint the six cities of refuge.
Maclaren -> Jos 20:1-9
Maclaren: Jos 20:1-9 - --Joshua 20:1-9
Our Lord has taught us that parts of the Mosaic legislation were given because of the hardness' of the people's hearts. The moral and re...
MHCC -> Jos 20:1-6
MHCC: Jos 20:1-6 - --When the Israelites were settled in their promised inheritance, they were reminded to set apart the cities of refuge, whose use and typical meaning ha...
Matthew Henry -> Jos 20:1-6
Matthew Henry: Jos 20:1-6 - -- Many things were by the law of Moses ordered to be done when they came to Canaan and this among the rest, the appointing of sanctuaries for the prot...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Jos 20:1-6
Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 20:1-6 - --
After the distribution of the land by lot among the tribes of Israel, six towns were set apart, in accordance with the Mosaic instructions in Num 35...
Constable -> Jos 13:1--21:45; Jos 20:1-9
Constable: Jos 13:1--21:45 - --II. THE DIVISION OF THE LAND chs. 13--21
Chapters 13-24 describe how Joshua divided the land and the results of ...
