Commentaria in Josue
Chapter 20. Synopsis of the Chapter
Josue designates six cities of refuge, three on this side and three beyond the Jordan.
1. And the Lord spoke to Josue, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 2. Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses; 3. that whosoever shall kill a person unawares may flee to them, and escape the wrath of the kinsman, who is the avenger of blood. 4. And when he shall flee to one of these cities, he shall stand before the gate of the city, and speak to the ancients of that city such things as prove him innocent: and so they shall receive him, and give him a place to dwell in. 5. And when the avenger of blood shall pursue him, they shall not deliver him into his hands, because he killed his neighbour unawares, and is not proved to have been his enemy two or three days before: 6. and he shall dwell in that city, till he stand before judgment to give an account of his fact, and till the death of the high priest who shall be in that time: then the manslayer shall return, and go into his own town and house from whence he fled. 7. And they appointed Cedes in Galilee of mount Nephthali, and Sichem in mount Ephraim, and Cariath-arbe, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Juda. 8. And beyond the Jordan to the east of Jericho they appointed Bosor, which is situate in the plain of the wilderness, of the tribe of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Basan of the tribe of Manasses. 9. These cities were appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the strangers that dwelt among them, that whosoever had killed a person unawares might flee to them, and not die by the hand of the kinsman desiring to revenge the blood that was shed, till he should stand before the people to lay open his cause.
2. APPOINT THE CITIES OF REFUGE,—Hebrew, cities of refuge, to which, namely, he may flee who involuntarily and by chance kills any one, as the Lord commanded, Numbers 35 and following, where I have explained these at length.
6. TILL HE STAND BEFORE JUDGMENT, TO GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF HIS FACT.—So that if he prove his innocence, namely that he killed by chance and unknowingly, he is brought back to the city of refuge, and remains there until the high priest dies; but if it appear that he killed voluntarily and on purpose, he is himself put to death.
Chapter Twenty-one. Synopsis of the Chapter
Thirty-eight cities in various tribes are assigned to the Levites to dwell in.
1. And the princes of the families of Levi came to Eleazar the priest, and to Josue the son of Nun, and to the princes of the kindreds of all the tribes of the children of Israel, 2. and they spoke to them in Silo of the land of Chanaan, and said: The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses that cities should be given us to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed our cattle. 3. And the children of Israel gave of their possessions, according to the commandment of the Lord, cities and their suburbs. 4. And the lot came out for the family of Caath of the children of Aaron the priest, out of the tribes of Juda, and Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities. 5. And to the rest of the children of Caath, that is, to the Levites who remained, out of the tribes of Ephraim, and Dan, and the half tribe of Manasses, ten cities. 6. And to the children of Gerson the lot came out that they should receive of the tribes of Issachar, and Aser, and Nephthali, and the half tribe of Manasses in Basan, thirteen cities. 7. And to the children of Merari by their kindreds, of the tribes of Ruben, and Gad, and Zabulon, twelve cities. 8. And the children of Israel gave to the Levites cities and their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, giving to every one by lot. 9. Of the tribes of the children of Juda and Simeon Josue gave cities: whose names are these: 10. to the children of Aaron by the families of Caath of the race of Levi (for the first lot came out for them) 11. Cariath-arbe, of the father of Enac, which is called Hebron, in the mount of Juda, and the suburbs thereof round about. 12. But the fields and villages thereof he had given to Caleb the son of Jephone for his possession. 13. He gave therefore to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron, a city of refuge, and its suburbs, and Lobna with its suburbs; 14. and Jether, and Esthemo, 15. and Holon, and Dabir, 16. and Ain, and Jeta, and Bethsames, with their suburbs: nine cities out of the two tribes, as hath been said. 17. And of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, Gabaon, and Gabae, 18. and Anathoth and Almon, with their suburbs: four cities. 19. All the cities together of the children of Aaron the priest were thirteen, with their suburbs. 20. And to the rest of the families of the children of Caath of the race of Levi this possession was given. 21. Of the tribe of Ephraim, a city of refuge, Sichem with its suburbs in mount Ephraim, and Gazer, 22. and Cibsaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs: four cities. 23. Of the tribe also of Dan, Eltheco and Gabathon, 24. and Aialon and Gethremmon, with their suburbs: four cities: 25. moreover of the half tribe of Manasses, Thanach and Gethremmon, with their suburbs: two cities. 26. All the cities ten, and their suburbs, were given to the children of Caath of the inferior degree. 27. To the children also of Gerson of the race of Levi he gave of the half tribe of Manasses cities of refuge, Golan in Basan and Bosra, with their suburbs: two cities. 28. And of the tribe of Issachar, Cesion and Dabereth, 29. and Jaramoth, and Engannim, with their suburbs: four cities. 30. And of the tribe of Aser, Masal and Abdon, 31. and Helcath and Rohob, with their suburbs: four cities. 32. Of the tribe also of Nephthali a city of refuge, Cedes in Galilee, and Hammoth-dor and Carthan, with their suburbs: three cities. 33. All the cities of the families of Gerson, thirteen, with their suburbs. 34. And to the children of Merari, Levites of the inferior degree, by their families was given of the tribe of Zabulon, Jecnam and Cartha, 35. and Damna and Naalol: four cities with their suburbs. 36. Of the tribe of Ruben beyond the Jordan over against Jericho, cities of refuge, Bosor in the wilderness, Misor and Jaser and Jethson and Mephaath: four cities with their suburbs. 37. Of the tribe of Gad, cities of refuge, Ramoth in Galaad, and Manaim and Hesebon and Jaser: four cities with their suburbs. 38. All the cities of the children of Merari by their families and kindreds, twelve. 39. So all the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight, 40. with their suburbs, each by their families distributed. 41. And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land which he had sworn to give to their fathers: and they possessed it, and dwelt in it. 42. And he gave them peace with all the nations round about, and none of their enemies durst stand against them, but all were brought under their dominion. 43. Not so much as one word, which he had promised to perform unto them, was made void, but all came to pass.
1. AND THE PRINCES OF THE FAMILIES OF LEVI CAME.—Note that the patriarch Jacob, dying, Genesis 49:5, imposed on his son Levi and his posterity the Levites, in punishment for the slaughter of the Sichemites, the penalty of dispersion among their brethren: but God, who is rich in tempering vengeance and in clemency, turned this penalty, on account of the merits of their descendants, into praise and honour; and willed that the companies and colleges of Levites and priests should be scattered through all the tribes, that all might receive from the priesthood both dignity and the profit of sound doctrine and of the divine law to be known. For these colleges of God were as nurseries of religion and piety, from which the neighbouring cities could seek the seeds of heavenly discipline and examples of a holier life. So God promises, Osee 2:23, that through the whole land he will sow “Jezrael,” that is, “seed of God,” namely priests as Apostles and apostolic men. So St. Basil, as St. Gregory Nazianzen testifies, oration 20, built monasteries near cities, that the inhabitants of both might communicate their advantages to each other, as land and sea do, mingled for this reason; that is, that the monasteries might be fed by the cities, and the cities might learn a holier life from the monasteries as from gymnasiums of piety. For this reason in Germany and other places very ancient monasteries were built near the more celebrated cities, indeed older than the cities themselves, and which gave the cities their occasion and beginning, as Thomas Dozius rightly notes in the Marks of the Church.
Wherefore St. Chrysostom, homily 59 to the People, exhorts him to visit monasteries and monks often. “For all things there,” he says, “are void of allurements, and free from all interruption and disquiet: moreover they are most tranquil harbours, and those who dwell in them are like fires which, shining from a higher place, show light from afar to those approaching, and when they have settled in harbour, draw others to their own tranquillity; and they do not suffer those who look upon them to undergo shipwreck, or those who have turned their eyes to them to be in darkness. Go then to such men, use their company, approach, I say, the saints, touch their feet; for it is much more honourable to embrace their feet than the head of others. Tell me, if some take hold of the feet of statues, because they bear the image of the king only, shalt thou not be saved if thou hold him who has Christ in himself? Holy therefore are such feet, even if they be of the lowest.”
3. AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GAVE.—Note: This distribution of cities made to the Levites by the twelve tribes happened a little after the casting of lots and the division of the land, before the several tribes entered upon the possession of their lot; and that so the first possessors might not be turned out of their seats by the Levites. The rest I have said on Numbers 35:1 and following.
Moreover more cities are numbered here as given to the Levites than to the other tribes, both for the honour of the priesthood, that priests and Levites, free from anxiety about houses, might give themselves wholly to the worship of God, says Philo, book On the Priestly Honour; and because the other tribes, besides cities, had many hamlets and villages; but the Levites not, only suburbs to a thousand paces. So Abulensis. Finally, to the priests, dispersed among the Levites throughout all Judea, there fell cities near Jerusalem and the future temple, that they might more easily approach it, as well as its citizens and princes, and contract marriages with the tribe of Juda, because God willed these two tribes to be mingled, “because Christ, who was to be born of the tribe of Juda, was to be not only king but also high priest,” says Theodoret.
11. CARIATH-ARBE, THE FATHER OF ENAC.—That is, the city of Arbe the giant, who was the father of Enac, from whom the Enacim giants sprang.
21. A CITY OF REFUGE, SICHEM.—The Hebrew, the Chaldean and many Latin manuscripts with Abulensis read city in the singular. For only one was a city of refuge here, namely Sichem; the others, namely Gazer, Cibsaim and Beth-horon, were ceded to the Levites to dwell in only, not to homicides for refuge. In these verses, therefore, for cities of refuge the Hebrew, Chaldean and manuscripts with Abulensis read in the singular city of refuge, for the cause already stated.
See Francis Lucas here, Annotation 30.
36. OF THE TRIBE OF RUBEN, etc.—This whole verse is wanting in the Hebrew: ours seems to have translated it from the Septuagint. See Francis Lucas, Annotation 31. It seems once to have existed in the Hebrew; for some Hebrew codices have it, as also the Chaldean, who for Jaser and Jethson read Jassa and Cademoth. So ours also reads in 1 Paralipomenon 6:78 and 79; wherefore these cities seem to have had two names.
41. AND THE LORD GOD GAVE TO ISRAEL ALL THE LAND WHICH HE HAD SWORN TO GIVE TO THEIR FATHERS: AND THEY POSSESSED IT, AND DWELT
IN IT.—You will say: This seems to conflict with what has been said here in verse 4, and what will be said in Judges 1, where it is asserted that the Hebrews in many places could not exterminate the Jebusites and Chanaanites: wherefore many things were still left, not yet possessed by the Hebrews, but to be possessed. I answer first that God gave the Hebrews all Chanaan, as to the right and dominion which they had over the whole of it, whence also he distributed it to them by lots. Again, as to its possession, but with the limitation which he himself expressed, Exodus 23:29, saying: “I will not cast them out from before thy face in one year, lest the land be brought into a wilderness, and the beasts multiply against thee; by little and little I will drive them out from before thee, till thou be increased and dost possess the land.” For this was more convenient and useful for the Hebrews. God gave, therefore, all the land promised by him, not the whole at once and together, but gradually and step by step, driving the Chanaanites out of it, lest it lie uncultivated, and wild beasts occupy it, until the Hebrews could inhabit and cultivate it all. For this is the condition which he had added to his promise; a condition not burdensome but convenient to the Hebrews. So Abulensis, Masius and others. We heard a similar phrase in chapter 11, last verse.
St. Augustine answers more subtly, Question 21, that the whole promised land was given by God to the Hebrews; because even those portions which they did not possess were given them for a certain usefulness of exercise, namely that they might learn to contend with enemies in a land unaccustomed.