What Does Joshua 20:9 Mean?
These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the sojourner who lives among them, that every one who strikes a living soul by straying might flee there, and not die by the hand of the blood-redeemer, until he stood before the assembly.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.THE KEY
Even the stranger receives shelter between an accidental death and the avenger: the congregation must hear before blood answers blood.
THE MEANING
When a death happens without intent, a place of refuge stands between the act and immediate retaliation. The stranger living among the people shares that protection, and the congregation is where the matter is heard. The accused does not die by the avenger’s hand before standing before the community.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
An unintended death does not make immediate vengeance the only possible response; the verse places a hearing before the accused’s death.
THE ROOT
גֹּאֵל
go'el
GROWS FROM
גאל
ga'al
Redeem, reclaim, or act as a next of kin.
“blood-redeemer” in this verse is go'el. The Hebrew name for the avenger belongs to the same word family as redeeming and reclaiming what belongs to kin. The verse holds that claim over a relative’s blood within a process that requires the accused to stand before the congregation.
ALSO GROWS
ga'al: To redeem or reclaim, including as a relative.
גָּאַל
This is the verb behind the avenger’s kinship claim.
ge'ullah: Redemption or recovery by a relative.
גְּאֻלָּה
It shows that the root’s reach includes restoration and reclaiming, alongside the avenger’s demand.
נוּס
nus
GROWS FROM
נוס
nus
Flee or escape.
“might flee there” in this verse is nus. The designated city is the destination of the flight named by this root. Refuge gives the flight somewhere to arrive before retaliation can decide the outcome.
ALSO GROWS
manos: Refuge or a place of escape.
מָנוֹס
This noun from the same root names the shelter that makes flight possible.
nas: Fleeing; one who flees.
נָס
It echoes the endangered person’s movement toward the appointed city.
גֵּר
ger
GROWS FROM
גור
gur
Dwell as a sojourner or resident outsider.
The word for stranger belongs to the same root as dwelling as a sojourner: this person lives among the community. The verse expressly extends refuge to that resident outsider as well as to Israel’s children.
ALSO GROWS
gur: To dwell or sojourn as an outsider.
גּוּר
The verb reveals the resident life behind the status named in the verse.
megurim: Sojournings or places of residence.
מְגוּרִים
This related noun connects the stranger’s status to dwelling among the people.
THE PATTERN
When a life is under threat, refuge and scrutiny make room for an account to be heard before judgment is carried out.
And if a man does not lie in wait, but God lets him come into his hand, then I set for you a place to which he flees.And they shall be cities of escape for you from the blood-redeemer, so that the crusher does not die until he stands before the assembly for judgment.The aligned one at the head of his own contention seems straight, but his neighbor comes and searches him out.THE THREAD
And if a man does not lie in wait, but God lets him come into his hand, then I set for you a place to which he flees.Joshua’s word for “flee” and Exodus’s “flee” share the Hebrew root נוס (nus), meaning to flee or escape. Exodus names the appointed place that receives the flight; Joshua shows that reaching it leads to a hearing before the congregation.
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