Provisions for Cities of Refuge

(Deuteronomy 19:1 - 19:13)
"When Jehovah your god has destroyed the people dwelling in the land he is giving you and when you have occupied their territory and settled in the towns and homes that once were theirs, you must establish, in this land that Jehovah your god is giving you, three separate cities of refuge.  Survey the land that is your inheritance from Jehovah your god and divide it into three regions, so that in each region there may be a city to which someone who has committed manslaughter may conveniently flee and take refuge.

"This provision is made for someone who has killed another person unintentionally, without malice aforethought, so that he may flee to one of these cities and live there in security.  This would apply to someone who goes into the woods with a neighbor in order to cut wood.  He swings an ax to fell a tree, the ax head flies off, hits and kills his neighbor.  That man may save his life by fleeing to one of these cities.  If, however, the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too great, the blood avenger, in hot pursuit, might, owing to the great distance, overtake and kill him.  In such a case the man's death would be undeserved, because he had killed the man accidentally and without malice aforethought.  That is why I command that you set aside three cities.

"If Jehovah enlarges your territory (as he vowed to your ancestors he would do) and gives you all the land he promised them -- because you have fastidiously followed all the laws I have given you, to revere Jehovah as your god and live by his precepts -- then you must provide for three additional cities of refuge.  This would prevent the death of innocent persons in the land Jehovah is giving you as a divine inheritance and spare you from the guilt of allowing innocent blood to be shed.

"But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, attacks and kills him, and then flees to a city of refuge, the elders of the murderer's hometown must send for him and bring him back so that he may be delivered into the hands of the blood avenger to be executed.  Lend him no pity!  You must purge Israel of the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that all may go well with you."

Notes
1. The necessity to establish cities of refuge highlights the prevailing values of the time, specifically, that someone who causes the death of another person is guilty of murder irrespective of motive or possession of a guilty mind.  Accidentally and unintentionally killing someone is tantamount to the most vicious murder and must be avenged by death.  Tribal mores demand an eye for an eye.  Taking the life of a member of the tribe, however it occurs, is an assault upon the tribe and must be responded to in kind.  He who has taken the life of a tribal member must be killed by a blood avenger appointed by the offended tribe, this usually being a male member of the victim's family.  Such concepts of justice were not unique to primitive Palestine; they seem to have been, if not universal, at least very widespread, perhaps the Sardinian vendetta being one of the last atavistic hold overs.  Tribal standards remained in force until national governments claimed a monopoly on the administration of justice.  With the Israelites, Jehovah does not seek to abolish or totally suppress tribalism; instead he works around it with such provisions as the cities of refuge.  To the modern, Jehovan justice may seem primitive and harsh, but it is far less so than what it strives to replace.  Often its principles are those upon which modern justice are based, for example, the distinction between premeditated murder and manslaughter, accidental death, and killing in self defense.

2. Implied in this section is the principle of collective guilt, that the entire community is responsible for the wrongful actions of any of its members.  Moreover, if guilt is not assuaged, if wrong is not compensated for, then bad fortune will befall the community.  (This last concept is a cornerstone of Jehovan and Christian religion as well: sin brings ill fortune, righteousness brings good fortune, a reward from a grateful deity.)