Joshua 20:4 BSB — MannaFest

Joshua 20:4

When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before its elders, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

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

KJV

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.

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Commentary

3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

As soon as the manslayer presented himself at the city of refuge, the elders of the city were to hold an inquiry, and receive him provisionally into the city. Afterward, when the avenger of blood should have tracked his victim to the city, and appear to claim him, a more formal and thorough investigation Jos 20:6 was to be made. Consult the marginal references.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

The gate - Where the Judges used to sit. His cause - Shall give them a true relation of the fact, and all its circumstances. They shall take him - If they are satisfied in the relation he makes, concerning the fact, otherwise it had been a vain thing to examine.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

If found guilty, the manslayer was surrendered to the blood-avenger; if extenuating circumstances appeared, he was to remain in the city of refuge, where he would be safe from the vindictive feelings of his pursuers; but he forfeited the privilege of immunity the moment he ventured beyond the walls.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

25 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וְנָ֞ס	ve.Nas	and he will flee	H5127 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
אַחַ֣ת׀	'a.Chat	one	H259 →
מֵהֶעָרִ֣ים	me.he.'a.Rim	of the cities	H5892 →
הָאֵ֗לֶּה	ha.'E.leh	<the> these	H428 →
וְעָמַד֙	ve.'a.Mad	and he will stand	H5975 →
פֶּ֚תַח	Pe.tach	[the] entrance of	H6607 →
שַׁ֣עַר	Sha.'ar	[the] gate of	H8179 →
הָעִ֔יר	ha.'Ir	the city	H5892 →
וְדִבֶּ֛ר	ve.di.Ber	and he will speak	H1696 →
בְּאָזְנֵ֛י	be.'a.ze.Nei	in [the] ears of	H241 →
זִקְנֵ֥י־	zik.Nei-	[the] elders of	H2205 →
הָעִֽיר	ha.'ir-	the city	H5892 →
הַהִ֖יא	ha.Hi'	<the> that	H1931 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
דְּבָרָ֑יו	de.va.Rav	words his	H1697 →
וְאָסְפ֨וּ	ve.'a.se.Fu	and they will gather	H622 →
אֹת֤וֹ	'o.To	<obj.> him	H853 →
הָעִ֙ירָה֙	ha.'I.rah	the city towards	H5892 →
אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם	'a.lei.Hem	to themselves	H413 →
וְנָתְנוּ־	ve.na.te.nu-	and they will give	H5414 →
ל֥וֹ	lo	to <the> him
מָק֖וֹם	ma.Kom	a place	H4725 →
וְיָשַׁ֥ב	ve.ya.Shav	and he will dwell	H3427 →
עִמָּֽם׃	'i.Mam	with them	H5973 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Hebrews 6:18
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
leads to
- Numbers 23:19
  God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Titus 1:2
  in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- 1 Samuel 15:29
  Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
- 2 Timothy 2:13
  if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
- Romans 3:4
  Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”
Through
Jeremiah 38:7
Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,
leads to
- Amos 5:10
  There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
- Jeremiah 37:13
  But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
- Jeremiah 29:2
  (This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)

Featured studies on this passage

On Joshua 20:4

Cities of Refuge, MannaFest

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About Joshua

The Walls of Jericho Fall Down — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Joshua: the study guide →Read chapter 20 →The featured study →

Continue: Joshua 20 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Joshua

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Joshua