Deuteronomy 19
19
Cities of Refuge. 1#Dt 4:41–43; Ex 21:12–14; Nm 35:9–34; Jos 20:1–9. When the Lord, your God, cuts down the nations whose land the Lord, your God, is giving you, and you have dispossessed them and settled in their cities and houses,#Dt 6:10–11; 12:29. 2you shall set apart three cities#Set apart three cities: the Israelites were to have at least six cities of refuge, three in the land east of the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan west of the Jordan (Nm 35:9–34); but since the three cities east of the Jordan had now been appointed (Dt 4:41–43), reference is made here only to the three west of the Jordan. The execution of this command is narrated in Jos 20. in the land the Lord, your God, is giving you to possess. 3You shall measure the distances and divide into three regions the land of which the Lord, your God, is giving you possession, so that every homicide will be able to find a refuge.
4This is the case of a homicide who may take refuge there and live: when someone strikes down a neighbor unintentionally and not out of previous hatred. 5For example, if someone goes with a neighbor to a forest to cut wood, wielding an ax to cut down a tree, and its head flies off the handle and hits the neighbor a mortal blow, such a person may take refuge in one of these cities and live. 6Should the distance be too great, the avenger of blood#The avenger of blood: see note on Nm 35:12. might in hot anger pursue, overtake, and strike the killer dead, even though that one does not deserve the death penalty since there had been no previous hatred; 7for this reason I command you: Set apart three cities.
8#Dt 11:22–25; 12:20; Gn 15:18–21; 28:14; Ex 23:31. But if the Lord, your God, enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised your ancestors he would give, 9because you carefully observe this whole commandment which I give you today, loving the Lord, your God, and ever walking in his ways, then add three more cities to these three. 10Thus, in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage, innocent blood will not be shed and you will not become guilty of bloodshed.#Dt 21:8–9.
11However, if someone, hating a neighbor, lies in wait, attacks, and strikes the neighbor dead, and then flees to one of these cities, 12the elders of the killer’s own city shall send and have the killer taken from there, to be handed over to the avenger of blood and slain. 13Do not show pity, but purge from Israel the innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.#Dt 13:6, 9.
Removal of Landmarks. 14You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary markers#Move your neighbor’s boundary markers: a prohibition against furtively extending one’s property by moving a neighbor’s boundary stone. erected by your forebears in the heritage that will be allotted to you in the land the Lord, your God, is giving you to possess.#Dt 27:17; Jb 24:2; Prv 22:28; 23:10; Hos 5:10.
False Witnesses. 15#Dt 5:20; Ex 20:16; 23:1. One witness alone shall not stand against someone in regard to any crime or any offense that may have been committed; a charge shall stand only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.#Dt 17:6; Nm 35:30; Mt 18:16; Jn 8:17; 2 Cor 13:1.
16If a hostile witness rises against someone to accuse that person of wrongdoing, 17the two parties in the dispute shall appear in the presence of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and judges in office at that time,#Dt 1:17; 17:8–12. 18#Dn 13:61–62. and the judges must investigate it thoroughly. If the witness is a false witness and has falsely accused the other,#Dt 13:15; 17:4. 19you shall do to the false witness just as that false witness planned to do to the other. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. 20The rest shall hear and be afraid, and never again do such an evil thing as this in your midst.#Dt 13:11. 21Do not show pity. Life for life,#Life for life… : this phrasing of the lex talionis may seem exaggerated, but the law itself is meant to ensure equity and proportional punishment; cf. note on Ex 21:22–25. eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot!#Ex 21:23–25; Lv 24:19–20; Mt 5:38.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Deuteronomy 19
19
Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge
1“When #ch. 12:29the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2#Ex. 21:13; Num. 35:10, 14; Josh. 20:2, 8you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3You shall measure the distances#19:3 Hebrew road and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.
4“This is the provision for #ch. 4:42; Num. 35:15; Josh. 20:3, 5the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— 5as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, 6lest #Num. 35:12, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. 7Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. 8#ch. 12:20 And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, #Ex. 34:24; [Ex. 23:31] as he has sworn to your fathers, and #See Gen. 15:18-21gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— 9provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—#ver. 2; [Josh. 20:7]then you shall add three other cities to these three, 10lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
11“But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him #ch. 27:24; Ex. 21:12, 14; See Num. 35:16-21and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, 12then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13#See ch. 7:16 Your eye shall not pity him, #ch. 21:9; Num. 35:33; [1 Kgs. 2:31]but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood#19:13 Or the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may be well with you.
Property Boundaries
14 # ch. 27:17; Job 24:2; Prov. 22:28; 23:10; Hos. 5:10 “You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
Laws Concerning Witnesses
15“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. #Cited Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1; See Num. 35:30Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16If #[Ex. 23:1; Ps. 35:11]a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, #ch. 17:8, 9; [ch. 21:5]before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18The judges shall #ch. 13:14; 17:4inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19#Prov. 19:5, 9; [Dan. 6:24]then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil#19:19 Or evil person from your midst. 20And the rest #See ch. 13:11shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21#[See ver. 13 above] Your eye shall not pity. #See Ex. 21:23, 24It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
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