Joshua 20:4

And when he will have fled to one of these cities, he shall stand before the gate of the city, and he shall speak to the ancients of that city, the things that prove him innocent. And so shall they receive him, and give him a place in which to live.

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.

In Context

3so that anyone who will have struck down a life unintentionally may flee to them. And so, he may be able to escape from the wrath of a close relative, who is an avenger of blood.

5And if the avenger of blood will have pursued him, they shall not deliver him into his hands. For he struck down his neighbor unknowingly, one who was not proven to have been his enemy two or three days before.

Read all of Joshua 20

Cross References

Ruth 4:1Then Boaz went up to the gate, and he sat there. And when he had seen the kinsman passing by, whom he had previously discussed, he spoke to him, calling him by his name, “Pause for a little while, and sit down here.” He turned aside and sat down.

Job 29:7When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me.

Proverbs 31:23Her husband is noble at the gates, when he sits among the senators of the land.

Hebrews 6:18so that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have the strongest solace: we who have fled together so as to hold fast to the hope set before us.

Matthew Henry on Joshua 20:2-7

The Cities of Refuge. ( b. c. 1444.) 1 The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, 2 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: 3 That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that… Read the whole commentary →

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