Cities of Refuge

The Commandment

In Numbers 35, G-d commands Moses to set aside 48 cities for the Levites. Among these cities are to be "cities of refuge" to which someone in Israel can flee if they accidentally kill another person. Scripture goes on to record the specific cities which were selected.

In Joshua chapter 20, G-d speaks to Joshua and reminds him to designate cities of refuge as spoken to Moses above. The entire chapter is dedicated to recording the cities that were set aside. In the remainder of this article, I'll list the cities, note every place where they are mentioned in Scripture, and provide a map of their locations.

The end of Joshua chapter 20 closes with this:

These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation. (Joshua 20:7)

The Cities

Kedesh

Joshua 20:7 lists Kedesh in Galilee as the first city of refuge. It is in the hill country of Naphtali. The Hebrew word קדשׁ (qedesh- {strongsH}Strong's #6943{/strongsH}) means "sanctuary" in the sense of being a holy, set-apart location. This Hebrew word comes from the word קדשׁ (qodesh- {strongsH}Strong's #6944{/strongsH}), which means "sacred" or "set apart". These words are closely related to the word describing G-d in Isaiah 6:3, where He is described as "Holy, Holy, Holy"... קדוֹשׁ (qadosh- {strongsH}Strong's #6918{/strongsH}).

Kedesh is first mentioned in Joshua 12:22 in referring to the king of Kedesh that the Israelites defeated. The next time Kedesh is mentioned outside of the book of Joshua is in Judges 4, where the prophetess Deborah sends for Barak to send him out against Sisera:

Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-Naphtali, and said to him, "Behold, the LORD, the G-d of Israel, has commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. (Judges 4:6)

Barak was from Kedesh, the city of refuge in the tribal area of Naphtali.

Judges 4:9 records that Deborah went with Barak back to Kedesh. Verse 10 records that Barak called the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh to build an army of ten thousand men. Verse 11 records that Heber the Kenite lived near Kedesh and reported to Sisera that Barak had left with ten thousand men to go to Mt. Tabor, south and east of Kedesh [click map at right for a larger view].

When Sisera mounts an attack [likely on Kedesh], Barak returns and defeats the invading army. Sisera's army is destroyed, and he is killed by a woman named Jael when she drives a peg through his temple (Judges 4:22).

2 Kings 15:29 again mentions Kedesh:

In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. (2 Kings 15:29)

The last instances of Kedesh in the Tanakh are found in 1 Chronicles chapter 6. The English books of First and Second Chronicles are a single book in the Hebrew Bible called Divrei Hayyamim (i.e., "matters [of] the days") based on the phrase sefer divrei ha-yamim le-malkhei Yehudah ("book of the days of the kings of Judah"), which appears several times in the Books of Kings.

and from the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands (1 Chronicles 6:72)

and from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, Hammon with its pasture lands and Kiryathaim with its pasture lands. (1 Chronicles 6:76)

There appear to be two cities known as Kedesh during the time of King David. The 6:76 reference (above) is "Kedesh in Galilee", but that's not very helpful since the northernmost city named Kedesh is in the northern part of the area known as Galilee, and the southernmost of the two is very near the Sea of Galilee. The southernmost city of Kedesh is physically closer to the traditional tribal area of Issachar but still shows on many maps as being within the area assigned to Naphtali.

There is also a separate unrelated location known as Kedesh-Barnea, which is in the south of the province of Judah (see Google Maps here).

Kedesh is not mentioned by name in the Greek Scriptures. However, given His extensive travels throughout Galilee, Yeshua may have visited there.

Shechem

Joshua 20:7 lists the next city of refuge as Shechem in the hill country of Ephrayim. שׁכם (shechem- {strongsH}Strong's #7927{/strongsH}) means "ridge" or "shoulder", as in the shoulder of a mountain.

• Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem (Genesis 12:6).
• Jacob traveled to Shechem and bought a plot of land where he had camped (Genesis 33:18-19).
• Genesis 34 relates the story of the sons of Jacob killing all the men of a community named Shechem because the man named Shechem, the son of Hamor, took Jacob's daughter Dinah and "lay with her by force".
• Genesis 35:4 relates that those traveling with Jacob gave him their foreign gods and earrings, which he hid under "the oak" near Shechem.
• Israel's sons go to pasture their father's flock in Shechem. Israel sends his son Joseph to check on them and report back in Genesis 37:12-14. During this trip, Joseph is cast down into the dry cistern and then sold into slavery.

Shechem is not mentioned again until the book of Joshua:

• Joshua 17:7 refers to Shechem as part of the boundaries of the land of the tribe of Manasseh.
• Joshua 20:7 lists Shechem as one of the cities of refuge.
• Joshua 21:21 records Shechem as one of the cities given to the sons of Kohath of the tribe of Levi as one of the cities promised to the Levites.
• Joshua 24:1 documents Shechem as the meeting place where Joshua calls all the tribes together and gives his famous "choose this day whom you will serve... as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" speech.
• Joshua 24:25 relates that Joshua makes a covenant with the people and establishes the Law [Torah] with them that day.
• 1 Kings 12:1 (and the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 10:1) state that "all Israel" had come up to Shechem to make Rehoboam king.
• 1 Kings 12:25 indicates that Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. Had it been previously destroyed (requiring it to be rebuilt), or was Jeroboam building a new town with the same name in another part of the Land?
• 1 Chronicles 6:67 recounts the giving of Shechem [in the hill country of Ephraim] as a city of refuge.
• 1 Chronicles 7:28 describes Shechem as an area having "towns" [plural] that belonged to the descendants of Joshua, the son of Nun.
• The book of Psalms mentions Shechem twice. Both Psalm 60:6 and Psalm 108:7 state that G-d has spoken in His holiness and says He will "portion out Shechem and measure out the valley of Succoth".

COMMENTARY: The author's opinion regarding these Psalm references to Shechem is that these passages can be seen figuratively as G-d giving everyone (Jew and Gentile believers alike) a "portion" in Shechem (a place of refuge) and a "measure" in Succoth (an area of abiding in His presence... as pictured in the moed of Sukkot).

Kiryat-Arba

Joshua 20:7 goes on to list the third city of refuge as Kiryat-Arba [also known as Hebron] in t e hill country of Judah. The Hebrew name קרית ארבּע (qiryat arba {strongsH}Strong's #7153{/strongsH}) is actually two words:

The first word, קריה (qiriah- {strongsH}Strong's #7151{/strongsH}) means "city" or "town". קרית (qiriat) means "city of" or "town of". The first time this word is used in Scripture is to refer to the "town of Sihon" in a proverb in Numbers 21:28.

The second word, ארבּע (arba- {strongsH}Strong's #702{/strongsH}), means "four". The first time this word is used is in Genesis 2:10 to describe the river that flowed out of the Garden of Eden and divided and became four rivers.

The city of four what is not noted, although Joshua chapter 14 sheds some light on the matter:

Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiryath-arba; for Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war. (Joshua 14:15)

According to the rabbinical commentator Rashi, Kiryat Arba ("Town of Arba") means either the town (qirya) of Arba himself, the giant who had three sons, or is referring to four giants: Arba and his three sons, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmi who are described as being the sons of a "giant" n Numbers 13:22. ("On the way through the Negev, they [Joshua and Caleb] came to Hebron where [they saw] Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmi, descendants of the Giant [ha-anak]..."). This matches the teaching of the Targum and Saadia Gaon.  Others say that Anak is a proper name (Targum Jonathan and the Septuagint) and that Anak may have been the father of the three others mentioned in the Book of Numbers.  They lived in Hebron, which the Book of Joshua says was previously called Kiryat Arba.

There are nine references to Kiryat-Arba in Scripture:

• Genesis 23:2- Sarah dies in Kiryat-arba.
• Genesis 35:27- Jacob goes to his father Isaac at "Mamre of Kiryat-Arba" at the time of Isaac's death.
• Joshua 14:15- Hebron was formerly named Kiryat-Arba.
• Joshua 15:13- Kiryat-Arba is given to Caleb, son of Jephunah, at G-d's command to Joshua.
• Joshua 15:54- Kiryat-Arba is recorded among nine cities in the hill country of the land given to Judah.
• Joshua 20:7- Kiryat-Arba is listed among the cities of refuge.
• Joshua 21:11- Kiryat-Arba is counted among the cities assigned to the Levites.
• Judges 1:10- The tribe of Judah battles against the Canaanites in Kiryat-Arba.
• Nehemiah 11:25- The Israelites cast lots to see who would live in Jerusalem.  Those who are not chosen live in their ancestral lands. The men of the tribe of Judah lived in towns, including Kiryat-Arba. This is the only passage in this list that does not explicitly identify Kiryat-Arba as Hebron. All the others do.

In Hebrew, Hebron is חברון (chevron) and means "association or league." Hebron comes from a root word (chavar- {strongsH}Strong's #2266{/strongsH}) that means "to unite" or "to be joined", as in a marriage or an alliance. Hebron is {strongsH}Strong's #2275{/strongsH} and is mentioned 59 times in the Tanakh (including 8 of the nine above) referring to the city.  Hebron is also used nine times to refer to a son of Kohath and a son of Mareshah, who are also named Hebron (e.g., Exodus 6:18).

Hebron/Kiryat-Arba is not explicitly mentioned in the Apostolic Writings.

Bezer

Joshua 20:8 first lists Bezer on the plain from the tribe of Reuben among the cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan.

The word Bezer בּצר (betzer- {strongsH}Strong's # 1221{/strongsH}) means "fortress" and is only mentioned five times in the Tanakh:

• Deuteronomy 4:43 - Bezer is listed among the cities of refuge by Moses.
• Joshua 20:8 - Bezer is listed among the cities of refuge to the east of Jericho.
• Joshua 21:36 - Bezer is listed among the cities given to the Merari clan of the Levites.
• 1 Chronicles 6:78 - Bezer is again listed as one of the cities given to the Merari clan.
• 1 Chronicles 7:37 - Bezer is a son of Zofah of the tribe of Asher.

Bezer is not mentioned in the Apostolic Writings.

Ramot Gilead

Joshua 20:8 names Ramoth Gilead from the tribe of Gad as the second of the cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan.

Ramoth Gilead is two Hebrew words: ראםוֹת (ramot- {strongsH}Strong's # 7216{/strongsH}), which means "heights" and גלעד (gilad- {strongsH}Strong's # 1568{/strongsH}) which means "to expose" or "lay bare".

Ramot is referenced five times in the Tanakh:

• Deuteronomy 4:43 - Ramoth Gilead is given to the tribe of Gad as a city of refuge.
• Joshua 20:8 - Ramoth Gilead is listed among the cities of refuge to the east of Jericho.
• Joshua 21:38 - Ramoth Gilead is again listed among the cities of refuge.
• 1 Chronicles 6:73 - Ramoth (not Gilead) in the tribal area of Issachar is listed as one of the cities given to the Gershom clan of the Levites.
• 1 Chronicles 7:37 - Ramoth Gilead is given to the Merari clan of the Levites.

Neither Ramoth nor Gilead are explicitly mentioned in the Apostolic Writings.

Golan

Joshua 20:8 concludes the cities with Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

{strongsH}Strong's #1474{/strongsH} lists Golan as "of undertain derivation".

Although Golan is referenced quite a bit in recent news and recent events, it is only referred to 4 times in the Tanakh:

• Deuteronomy 4:43 - Golan is given to the tribe of Manasseh as a city of refuge
• Joshua 20:8 - Golan in Bashan is listed among the cities of refuge to the east of Yericho
• Joshua 21:27 - Golan in Bashan is listed as the city of refuge assigned to the sons of Gershon among the Levites.
• 1 Chronicles 6:71 - This passage reiterates that Golan in Bashan is assigned as the city of refuge for Gershon within the tribal area of Manasseh.

Neither Golan nor Bashan are directly mentioned in the Apostolic Writings; however, some events that occurred in the area of Golan are recorded in Scripture:

Banias (the Arabic pronunciation of Panias) is an archaeological site and former city located at the foot of Mt. Hermon in the Golan Heights.  The site is 150 km north of Jerusalem and 60 km southwest of Damascus.  The city was also called Caesarea Philippi by the Romans.¹ Caesarea Philippi is mentioned twice in the writings of the apostles in the parallel passages of Matthew 16:13 and Mark 8:27.

Summary

There are six cities of refuge listed in Scripture:

• Kedesh
• Shechem
• Kiryat-Arba
• Bezer
• Ramoth-Gilead
• Golan

Although all these locations are mentioned several times in the Tanakh, none are directly referenced in the Apostolic Writings.  The image at right shows all the cities on a single map.