Cities are appointed for the Levites. Of which six are to be the cities of refuge.
Cities and suburbes are appointed for the Leuites, among the other tribes. 6. Of which six shal be for refuge of such as vnwittingly kil anie man, 22. where, keping them selues til the death of the high Priest, they shal be safe. 30. VVilful murtherers conuicted (so it be by more then one witnes) must die forthwith.
1And the Lord spoke these things also to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, over against Jericho:Disse ancor queste cose il Signore a Mosè nelle pianure di Moab presso al Giordano dirimpetto a Gerico:THESE thinges also spake our Lord to Moyses in the champion countries of Moab vpon Iordan, against Iericho:Hæc quoque locutus est Dominus ad Moysen in campes tribus Moab supra Jordanem, contra Jericho: 2Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites out of their possessions,Comanda a' figliuoli d'Israele, che de' loro dominii dieno a' LevitiCommand the children of Israel that they geue vnto the Leuites of their possessionsPræcipe filiis Israël ut dent Levitis de possessionibus suis 3Cities to dwell in, and their suburbs round about: that they may abide in the towns, and the suburbs may be for their cattle and beasts:Delle città da abitare, e i loro sobborghi all'intorno, affinché abitino le città, e i sobborghi sieno pe' loro greggi, e giumenti:cities to dwel in, and their suburbes round about: that them selues may abide in the townes, and the suburbes may be for their cattel and beastes:urbes ad habitandum, et suburbana earum per circuitum: ut ipsi in oppidis maneant, et suburbana sint pecoribus ac jumentis: 4Which suburbs shall reach from the walls of the cities outward, a thousand paces on every side:I quali sobborghi sì stenderanno fuori per lo spazio di mille passi dalle mura delle città all'intorno:which from the walles of the cities outward, round about, shal reach the space of a thousand paces.quæ a muris civitatum forinsecus, per circuitum, mille passuum spatio tendentur. 5Toward the east shall be two thousand cubits: and toward the south in like manner shall be two thousand cubits: toward the sea also, which looketh to the west, shall be the same extent: and the north side shall be bounded with the like limits. And the cities shall be in the midst, and the suburbs without.Da oriente saranno due mila cubiti, e da mezzodì parimente due mila cubiti: e verso il mare che guarda a occidente, vi sarà la stessa misura e dalla parte di settentrione sarà eguale spazio: e le città saranno nel mezzo, e fuori i sobborghi.Toward the East shal be two thousand cubites: and toward the South in like manner shal be two thousand: toward the sea also, which looketh to the West, shal be the same measure: and the North part shal be limitted with equal boundes. And the cities shal be in the middes, and the suburbes without.Contra orientem duo millia erunt cubiti, et contra meridiem similiter erunt duo millia: ad mare quoque, quod respicit ad occidentem, eadem mensura erit, et septentrionalis plaga æquali termino finietur, eruntque urbes in medio, et foris suburbana.
6And among the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, six shall be separated for refuge to fugitives, that he who hath shed blood may flee to them: and besides these there shall be other forty-two cities,Di queste città poi che voi assegnerete ai Leviti, sei saranno destinate al ricovero de' fuggiaschi, affinché in esse abbia rifugio chi avrà sparso del sangue: e oltre a queste vi saranno altre quarantadue città,And of the same townes, which you shal geue to the Leuites, six shal be separated for the ayde of fugitiues, that he may flee to them which hath shed bloud: and beside these other fourtie two townes,De ipsis autem oppidis, quæ Levitis dabitis, sex erunt in fugitivorum auxilia separata, ut fugiat ad ea qui fuderit sanguinem: et exceptis his, alia quadraginta duo oppida, 7That is, in all forty-eight with their suburbs.Vale a dire quarant'otto in tutto coi loro sobborghi.that is, in al fourtie eight with their suburbes.id est, simul quadraginta octo cum suburbanis suis. 8And of these cities which shall be given out of the possessions of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be taken: and from them that have less, fewer. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.E di queste città il maggior numero sarà dato da quei figliuoli d'Israele, i quali possederanno maggiore spazio di terra: il minor numero da quelli che possederanno minore spazio: ciascuno secondo la misura delle lor possessioni daranno le città a' Leviti.And those cities, that shal be geuen of the possessions of the children of Israel, from them that haue more, moe shal be taken away: and that haue lesse, fewer. Eache shal geue townes to the Leuites according to the measure of their inheritance.Ipsæque urbes, quæ dabuntur de possessionibus filiorum Israël, ab his qui plus habent, plures auferentur: et qui minus, pauciores: singuli juxta mensuram hæreditatis suæ dabunt oppida Levitis. 9The Lord said to Moses:Disse il Signore a Mosè:Our Lord said to Moyses:Ait Dominus ad Moysen: 10Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have passed over the Jordan into the land of Chanaan,Parla a' figliuoli d'Israele, e di' loro: Quando, passato il Giordano, sarete entrati nella terra di Canaan,Speake to the children of Israel, & thou shalt say to them: When you shal haue passed ouer Iordan into the Land of Chanaan,Loquere filiis Israël, et dices ad eos: Quando transgressi fueritis Jordanem in terram Chanaan, 11Determine what cities shall be for the refuge of fugitives, who have shed blood against their will.Determinate le città che dovranno essere il rifugio de' fuggiaschi, i quali senza volerlo avranno sparso del sangue:determine what cities shal be for the succour of fugitiues, that haue not voluntaryly shed bloud:decernite quæ urbes esse debeant in præsidia fugitivorum, qui nolentes sanguinem fuderint:
12And when the fugitive shall be in them, the kinsman of him that is slain may not have power to kill him, until he stand before the multitude, and his cause be judged.Nelle quali quando uno si sarà rifuggito, non potrà il parente dell'ucciso ammazzarlo, sino a tanto che egli si presenti dinanzi al popolo, e sia giudicata la sua causa.in which when the fugitiue shal be, the kinseman of him that is killed can not kil him, vntil he stand in the sight of the multitude, and his cause be iudged.in quibus cum fuerit profugus, cognatus occisi non poterit eum occidere, donec stet in conspectu multitudinis, et causa illius judicetur. 13And of those cities, that are separated for the refuge of fugitives,Di queste città destinate al ricovero de' fuggiaschi,And of those cities, that are separated for refuge of the fugitiues,De ipsis autem urbibus, quæ ad fugitivorum subsidia separantur, 14Three shall be beyond the Jordan, and three in the land of Chanaan,Tre saranno di qua dal Giordano, e tre nella terra di Canaan:three shal be beyond Iordan, and three in the Land of Chanaan,tres erunt trans Jordanem, et tres in terra Chanaan, 15As well for the children of Israel as for strangers and sojourners, that he may flee to them, who hath shed blood against his will.E (saranno) tanto pei figliuoli d'Israele, come pei forestieri di altre nazioni, affinché in esse trovi rifugio chi senza volerlo ha sparso del sangue.as wel for the children of Israel as for strangers and soiouners, that he may flee to them, which hath not voluntaryly shed bloud.tam filiis Israël quam advenis atque peregrinis, ut confugiat ad eas qui nolens sanguinem fuderit. 16If any man strike with iron, and he die that was struck: he shall be guilty of murder, and he himself shall die.Chi ha ferito con ferro, se il ferito viene a morire, egli è reo di omicidio, ed egli pur morirà.If any man strike with yron, and he die that was strooken, he shal be guiltie of murder, and him self shal die.Si quis ferro percusserit, et mortuus fuerit qui percussus est, reus erit homicidii, et ipse morietur. 17If he throw a stone, and he that is struck die: he shall be punished in the same manner.Se scaglierà un sasso, e muore il ferito, avrà la medesima pena.If he cast a stone, and he that is strooken die: he shal be punished in like manner.Si lapidem jecerit, et ictus occubuerit, similiter punietur. 18If he that is struck with wood die: he shall be revenged by the blood of him that struck him.Se colui che è stato percosso con bastone, viene a morire, sarà vendicato col sangue dell'uccisore.If he that is strooken with wood die, he shal be reuenged by the strikers bloud.Si ligno percussus interierit, percussoris sanguine vindicabitur.
19The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.Il parente dell'ucciso ucciderà l'omicida: lo ucciderà subito che lo avrà nelle mani.The kinsman of him that is slaine, shal kil the murderer, as sowne as he apprehendeth him, he shal kil him.Propinquus occisi, homicidam interficiet: statim ut apprehenderit eum, interficiet. 20If through hatred any one push a man, or fling any thing at him with ill design:Se uno per odio dà la spinta a un uomo, o getta sopra di lui qualche cosa con mala intenzione,If through hatred one push a man, or cast any thing at him by stratageme:Si per odium quis hominem impulerit, vel jecerit quippiam in eum per insidias: 21Or being his enemy, strike him with his hand, and he die: the striker shall be guilty of murder: the kinsman of him that was slain as soon as he findeth him, shall kill him.O se, essendo suo nemico, lo batte colle mani, e quegli viene a morire, il percussore è reo d'omicidio: il parente dell'ucciso, subito che lo troverà, potrà ammazzarlo.or being his enemie, strike him with his hand, and he die: the striker shal be guiltie of murder. the kinseman of him that is slaine as sowne as he findeth him, shal kil him.aut cum esset inimicus, manu percusserit, et ille mortuus fuerit: percussor homicidii reus erit: cognatus occisi statim ut invenerit eum, jugulabit. 22But if by chance medley, and without hatred,Ma se per accidente, e senza odioBut if by chance medlie, and without hatred,Quod si fortuitu, et absque odio 23And enmity, he do any of these things,E senza nimicizia (anteriore) egli ha fatto alcuna di tali cose,and enemitie, he do any of these thinges,et inimicitiis quidquam horum fecerit, 24And this be proved in the hearing of the people, and the cause be debated between him that struck, and the next of kin:E ne avrà recate le prove dinanzi al popolo, quando sarà stata ventilata la causa tra il percussore, e il parente del morto,and this be proued in the hearing of the people, and the question debated betwen him that stroke, & the next of bloud:et hoc audiente populo fuerit comprobatum, atque inter percussorem et propinquum sanguinis quæstio ventilata: 25The innocent shall be delivered from the hand of the revenger, and shall be brought back by sentence into the city, to which he had fled, and he shall abide there until the death of the high priest, that is anointed with the holy oil.Sarà egli liberato come innocente dalle mani del vendicatore, e sarà per sentenza ricondotto nella città, in cui erasi rifuggito, e ivi starà fino a tanto che il sommo sacerdote che è unto coll'olio santo venga a morire.the innocent shal be deliuered from the hand of the reuenger, & by sentence shal be brought backe into the citie, to which he had fled, and he shal tarie there, vntil the High priest, that is anointed with the holie oile, do die.liberabitur innocens de ultoris manu, et reducetur per sententiam in urbem, ad quam confugerat, manebitque ibi, donec sacerdos magnus, qui oleo sancto unctus est, moriatur.
26If the murderer be found without the limits of the cities that are appointed for the banished,Se l'uccisore sarà trovato fuori de' confini delle città destinate agli esuli,If the murderer be found without the limites of the cities, that are deputed to the banished,Si interfector extra fines urbium, quæ exulibus deputatæ sunt, 27And be struck by him that is the avenger of blood: he shall not be guilty that killed him.E sarà ucciso da colui che vuol vendicare il parente ucciso, un tal uccisore sarà senza colpa:and be strooken of him that is the reuenger of bloud: he shal be guiltles that killed him.fuerit inventus, et percussus ab eo qui ultor est sanguinis: absque noxa erit qui eum occiderit. 28For the fugitive ought to have stayed in the city until the death of the high priest: and after he is dead, then shall the manslayer return to his own country.Perocché doveva il fuggitivo starsene nella città fino alla morte del pontefice: dopo la morte del quale l'omicida può tornare nella sua patria.For the fugitiue ought to haue stayed in the citie vntil the death of the High priest. And after he is dead, then shal the murderer returne into his countrie.Debuerat enim profugus usque ad mortem pontificis in urbe residere. Postquam autem ille obierit, homicida revertetur in terram suam. 29These things shall be perpetual, and for an ordinance in all your dwellings.Queste leggi saranno osservate in perpetuo in qualunque luogo, dove voi abitiate.These thinges shal be perpetual, and for an ordinance in al your habitations.Hæc sempiterna erunt, et legitima in cunctis habitationibus vestris. 30The murderer shall be punished by witnesses: none shall be condemned upon the evidence of one man.L'omicida sarà punito, uditi i testimoni: sul deposto d'un solo testimone nissuno sarà condannato.The murderer shal be punished by witnesses: none shal be condemned, at the testimonie of one man.Homicida sub testibus punietur: ad unius testimonium nullus condemnabitur. 31You shall not take money of him that is guilty of blood, but he shall die forthwith.Non riceverete denaro da colui che ha sparso del sangue: egli pure dee immediatamente morire.You shal not take a price of him, that is guiltie of bloud, he also shal die forth with.Non accipietis pretium ab eo qui reus est sanguinis, statim et ipse morietur. 32The banished and fugitives before the death of the high priest may by no means return into their own cities.Gli esuli, e fuggitivi non potranno in verun modo tornare nelle loro città prima della morte del pontefice.The banished and fugitiues before the death of the High priest may by no meanes returne into their owne cities.Exules et profugi ante mortem pontificis nullo modo in urbes suas reverti poterunt,
33Defile not the land of your habitation, which is stained with the blood of the innocent: neither can it otherwise be expiated, but by his blood that hath shed the blood of another.Guardatevi dal contaminare la terra di vostra abitazione, la quale resta macchiata dal sangue degli innocenti, e non può esser espiata, se non col sangue di colui che ha sparso il sangue d'un altro.Pollute not the land of your habitation, which is polluted with the bloud of innocentes: neither can it otherwise be expiated, but by his bloud, that shedeth an other mans bloud.ne polluatis terram habitationis vestræ, quæ insontium cruore maculatur: nec aliter expiari potest, nisi per ejus sanguinem, qui alterius sanguinem fuderit. 34And thus shall your possession be cleansed, myself abiding with you. For I am the Lord that dwell among the children of Israel.In tal guisa sarà mondata la vostra terra, e io mi starò con voi: perocché io sono il Signore che abito tra i figliuoli d'Israele.And so shal your possession be cleansed my self abyding with you. For I am the Lord that dwel among the children of Israel.Atque ita emundabitur vestra possessio me commorante vobiscum. Ego enim sum Dominus qui habito inter filios Israël.
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Year of the World 2553.
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Drusius
Cities, in all forty-eight, with a thousand paces round them. This land belonged to the community: but some built upon it, Josue 21:18., and 1 Paralipomenon 6:60. The burial place for the Levites lay behind it. (Drusius)
Abulensis
In these cities alone, the Levites had houses and gardens of their own; others might live with them, and indeed the cities acknowledged other lords, as Hebron belonged to Caleb, Josue 14:14. The Levites were dispersed throughout the land, that they might instruct the people both by word and by example, Deuteronomy 33:10. They had a clear revenue without labour of husbandry, equivalent to any two of the other tribes. (Abulensis.)
Salien
Six of their cities were assigned for places of refuge, as they were the proper judges of the cases, in which murder may be excused, and to remind them that they ought to be very merciful. Hence arose the privileges, granted to some churches, of protecting those who fled to them for an asylum. That none might be hindered from enjoying this benefit, three of these cities were situated on each side of the Jordan, and at equal distances. (Salien)
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Haydock
Paces. This is equivalent to 2000 cubits, (ver. 5,) or a sabbath day's journey. (Selden, Jur. 3:9.; St. Jerome, q. 9. ad algas.) Hebrew retains the same word, amma, "cubit," in both verses: but some copies of the Septuagint, Philo, and Josephus, have "2000 cubits," (Calmet) which Dr. Wall and Kennicott deem to be the original reading. (Haydock)
Menochius
Bonfrere would also correct the Hebrew by the Vulgate, as a pace among the Greeks consisted of three feet, and a cubit of half that quantity. The geometric pace of the Romans contained five feet, and the sacred cubit of Villalpand, half as much; so that 2000 sacred cubits make 1000 geometric paces. Thus the Vulgate is perfectly consistent with itself. (Menochius)
Some imagine that Moses speaks of the common cubit here and of the sacred one, which was doubly as large, ver. 5. But this is not probable; and the distinction of cubits, (Calmet) at least in his days, (Haydock) is very uncertain. Perhaps Moses may first specify the depth of this space of ground from the wall, and afterwards its length, which would be doubly greater. (Calmet) See Servius on Jos. xxi. q. 8, etc.
Du Hamel
The semidiameter was probably 1000 cubits. (Du Hamel)
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Sea. Hebrew simply, "on the west side 2000 cubits, and on the north side 2000 cubits, and the city in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the city."
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Philo
Cities. Maimonides pretends, that all the forty-eight cities of the Levites were asylums; though only six were bound to receive the fugitive gratis. Moses had promised a place of refuge, which he now grants, Exodus 21:13. The altar and temple enjoyed the like privilege: the latter even till its destruction. (Philo)
Calmet
Josephus mentions only six cities of refuge. Those who could not be supposed to have killed a person designedly, were not obliged to flee to them; as, on the other hand, the murderer was not permitted to enter, if his malice were notorious, or his negligence extreme. (Rabbins ep. Selden, Jur. 4:2.) To be secured at the altar of holocausts, it was necessary to touch the grate. If the judges declared that the person's case was such as the law admitted, he was conducted away, under a strong guard, to one of the cities; or, if he were deemed unworthy, he was put to death, out of the holy place. The altar was commonly the refuge only of priests. Those who were not of Hebrew extraction, could not claim the rights of an asylum, according to the Rabbins. But the contrary seems to be asserted, ver. 15. The roads to the cities of refuge were to be kept in good repair, and in case more than six should be found necessary, three others might be appointed, Deuteronomy 19:3, 8. This privilege is founded on the law of nature, which decrees that the life of the innocent man, who has had the misfortune to kill another, should not be taken away. Other nations extended this right to almost every crime, that the weak might have an opportunity of defending themselves. The sons of Hercules erected for this purpose the altar of mercy, at Athens. Some of the pagan temples could protect even the greatest criminals, as well as the innocent, who might fear oppression. Those of Apollo, at Delphos, of Bacchus, at Ephesus, etc., were very famous. See Marsham, Chron. saec. 13. Tiberius found it necessary to recall these privileges among the Greeks, as they were greatly abused. (Tacitus, An. 3:6.) But his decree was not much regarded. The Romans had their asylums also, at Naples, etc., where those who had been condemned to die, might be secure. Rome itself was an asylum for all strangers, as St. Augustine remarks, City of God 1:The Christian emperors afforded the like privileges to our churches. But some who were guilty of the crimes of adultery, murder, heresy, etc., were deprived of the benefit. (Calmet)
Tirinus
Those who fled to the altar among the Jews were first to be purified; (Philo) and if they had committed murder publicly, like Joab, they were dragged away, 3 Kings 2:(Tirinus)
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Masius
Kinsman, the nearest relation, who was called the revenger of blood, (ver. 25, 27.; Haydock) or the redeemer, because it was his duty to see that justice was done to the deceased. When the person, who had involuntarily committed murder, arrived at the city, he was to make his appearance before the judges of it, and, if they thought his account satisfactory, they admitted him, but upon condition that he should take his trial before the judges and the people of that country, where the murder had taken place, (ver. 25., and Josue 20:4, 9.; Tirinus) though some think that the judges of the city of refuge, passed sentence. (Masius; etc.)
If it proved favourable, he was bound to remain in the city, till the death of the high priest, otherwise the relations might kill him as an outlaw; as they might also if he was declared guilty. In case the murder were voluntary, the judges of the place where it was committed set to demand the criminal, Deuteronomy 19:11.
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Haydock
If, etc. Hebrew, "or he smite him with a wooden weapon, (wherewith he may die,) and he die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death." The two former verses are expressed in the same awful manner, intimating that the weapon must be of such a nature that it might easily give a mortal wound, and also that the effect really followed. In these cases, if the person could not clear himself, no refuge or reprieve was allowed. (Haydock)
Menochius
But the deceased must have been killed upon the spot, otherwise the person who struck him could only be required to pay a fine, Exodus 21:19. (Menochius)
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Estius
Him, with impunity. If the judges have passed sentence, he shall be obliged to put it in execution, ver. 21, 31. (St. Augustine, q. 65.) (Estius)
Demost
The laws of Athens required also that a relation should put the murderer to death, though the deceased were even of servile condition. (Demost.)
Those of Rome condemned the involuntary manslayer to retire for a year, and afterwards to appease some one of the relations, and to offer the sacrifices, and submit to the usual purifications. Even at the present day, the Persians and Arabs deliver the murderer to be slain by the kinsmen of the deceased, after sentence has been passed by the judges.
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Menochius
Kill him. It seems when the case was evident, he was not only permitted, but commanded to punish the criminal. (Bonfrere) (Deuteronomy 19:12.) (Menochius)
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Haydock
Delivered. Hebrew, "the multitude shall deliver the slayer." It seems the judges pronounced sentence, according to the votes of the people assembled; (Calmet) or the plurality of voices among the 21 judges decided the matter. (Grotius) (Haydock)
Challoner
High priest. This mystically signified that our deliverance was to be effected by the death of Christ, the high priest and the anointed of God. (Challoner)
Theodoret
He rescued us from the hand of the revenger, the devil. (Theodoret, q. 50, 51.)
Worthington
Before his death, the way to our true country was not open, nor secure. (St. Gregory, hom 6. in Ezec.) (Worthington)
Masius
By this law, Moses shewed a horror for murder, and the respect due to the person of the high priest, during whose life even the involuntary murderer was obliged to keep himself retired in a city of refuge. (Masius)
Maimonides
At the death of the pontiff, all Israel put on mourning, so that private injuries were to be forgotten, when the public had such cause for sorrow; and in the mean time the vengeance of kinsmen would relent. (Maimonides; More. 3:40.)
Calmet
Murder was punished by the Greeks, in the days of Homer, with banishment, though sometimes this was remitted by the relations, for a sum of money. (Iliad ix.) (Calmet)
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Grotius
Him. Custom explained this law, as giving leave to any person to inflict the punishment upon the wandering murderer, though the relation seem only to be specified. (Grotius)
Calmet
Some think, that to kill such a person was still criminal in the sight of God. But others believe that, as he had forfeited the privilege of an asylum, by absenting himself from it, (Calmet) the law subjected him to the same rigour, with which he might have been treated before he came thither; (ver. 19.; Haydock) and provided proper moderation were observed, and malicious revenge avoided, no guilt would attach to him, who executed the implied sentence of death. The Jews observe, that God allows us to revenge another sooner than ourselves, as there is less danger of excess or of delusion. (Calmet)
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Man. A person might be tried on such evidence, Deuteronomy 19:15.
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Grotius
Cities. Hebrew, "you shall take no money to retire to a city of refuge, to return into his own country, till the death of the priest." The Septuagint supply, "you shall take no redemption money, to permit (a voluntary murderer) to flee into a city of refuge, (nor of an involuntary one,) to return," etc. (Grotius)
Haydock
The banished, may refer to people of the former description, who had gone away to screen themselves from persecution. But they could never be allowed to inhabit the country any more. Their presence would seem to defile it. (Haydock)
"You shall not take money of him who has fled to a city of refuge, to suffer him to return home." (Chaldean)
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Haydock
Defile not. To inspire a greater horror for murder, the earth was represented as defiled by blood, and only to be purified by the death of the criminal. Without shedding of blood, there is no remission, Hebrews 9:22. (Haydock)
Calmet
On the same principle, our churches, etc., are deemed profane, when murder, or some great indecencies, have been committed in them, so that they require a fresh consecration. (Calmet)
35:25
Until the death, etc.... This mystically signified that our deliverance was to be effected by the death of Christ, the high priest and the anointed of God.
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Yet not before sentence of death. •. 12. & 24. S. Aug. q. 65. in Num.
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Mystically this signified, that the way to true life was not open before Christs death Theodor. q. 51. in Num. S. Grig. ho. 6. in Ezechielem.
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.28
A. Your argument is ingenious, but you do not see that it goes against Holy Scripture, which declares that even ignorance is not without sin. Hence it was that Job offered sacrifices for his sons, lest, perchance, they had unwittingly sinned in thought. And if, when one is cutting wood, the axe-head flies from the handle and kills a man, the owner is
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.24
… For among men of ancient and modern days, each is supposed to have had some special success, as each chanced to have received from God some particular virtue: Job unconquered patience in misfortune, Moses and David meekness, Samuel prophecy, seeing into the future, Phineas zeal,
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Socrates Scholasticus † AD 440 The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus 3.8
… If they charge us with ‘cowardice,’ it is in utter insensibility to the condemnation it pronounces on themselves. If they asperse these holy men by asserting that they acted contrary to the will of God, they demonstrate their ignorance of Scripture. For it was commanded in the Law that ‘cities of refuge’ should be constituted,
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.28
Numbers xxxv. 13 . The cities of refuge provided for manslayers.
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St Jerome † AD 420 To Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 39
… “Not once, nor thrice, but again and again they swore that they knew the individual in question to be orthodox, and that they had never suspected him of heresy.” What undisguised and shameless lying! A witness borne by a man to himself! Such witness as is not believed even in the mouth of a Cato, for
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1. THE LORD ALSO SPOKE THESE THINGS, etc., BEYOND THE JORDAN, — near, beside the Jordan.
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2 and 3. COMMAND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL THAT THEY GIVE TO THE LEVITES OF THEIR POSSESSIONS, CITIES TO DWELL IN. — "To the Levites," namely both to priests and to Levites properly so called. For Levite here signifies all of the tribe of Levi; for all of these indeed no inheritance, but yet a dwelling place was to be given. Whence various cities were assigned to them, in which they might dwell commonly and promiscuously. There were forty-eight of them, as is evident from Joshua XXI, and here verse 7. And in one of these the tabernacle was almost always, to which each, when his turn of ministering came around, would betake himself, and having completed his turns, would return home to his cities. Lyra thinks these cities were for the use of priests only; for their dominion was with others, and he proves this from Hebron, which was given to the priests, Joshua XXI, and yet its lord was Caleb of the tribe of Judah, Joshua XIV, 3. But Lyra is mistaken. For in Leviticus XXV, 32 and following, it is said that the cities and suburbs of the Levites are their perpetual possession, and that they can sell and redeem their houses in them; finally that those in the jubilee should return to them, as to absolute lords, equally as the houses of laymen. As for Hebron, only the fields and vineyards, which were in the territory of Hebron, were Caleb's; but the city and its suburbs were of the priests, as is said in Joshua chapter XXI, 11. Again in Leviticus chapter last, 21, it is established that, if anyone vows a field to the Lord, the priests shall possess it. Thus in III Kings II, Solomon says to Abiathar the priest: "Go to your field." Thus Jeremiah was a priest, and yet, chapter XXXII, he himself writes that he bought and possessed a field. Finally in Acts chapter IV, it is said that Barnabas, a Levite, a Cypriot by birth, sold a field which he had. From which it is evident that Levites could not only buy fields and suburbs in Judaea, but also elsewhere fields and vineyards partly by purchase, partly from the offerings and vows of the people. Outside Judaea however, they could inherit, buy and possess estates equally as others. For only in the division of the holy land, made by Joshua, the Levites did not receive their lot with the other tribes. Whence Barnabas in Cyprus, and other Levites elsewhere, had their own possessions.
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3 and 4. And let the suburbs be for cattle and beasts, WHICH SHALL BE EXTENDED FROM THE WALLS OF THE CITIES OUTWARDLY, BY A CIRCUIT, TO THE SPACE OF A THOUSAND PACES. — Suburbs are here given to the Levites for a thousand paces round about their cities, and this for the pasture of cattle. This verse, in the Hebrew, the Septuagint and others, seems to be entirely at variance with the following verse: for here a thousand amma, that is cubits, are given to the Levites; but in the following verse two thousand amma, that is cubits, are given, and this to every quarter of the world. First, Rabbi Solomon, Lyra and Vatablus respond that a thousand cubits were given to the Levites, but it was not permitted to the first thousand to plough and sow, but to the latter it was permitted. But this response seems to be fabricated from thin air; for Scripture hints at nothing of the sort. Secondly, Burgensis, whom Arias Montanus follows in Joshua xiv, responds that around each city of the Levites, and its suburbs, a square was described, so that its quasi-diameter from the walls of the city to the end of the suburbs contained a thousand cubits; but each side of the square itself contained two thousand cubits. But it is established that cities are scarcely square, but round, and therefore the suburbs around them at a thousand cubits ought to have been described not in a square, but in a circle. Thirdly, Masius responds in Joshua xiv, and Serarius in Joshua xxi, namely that these suburbs, to each quarter, had only a thousand cubits; yet they are said to be two thousand, because if a straight line of a thousand cubits to the East, for example, be extended to the opposite side, which is to the West, which is also a thousand cubits, there will be two thousand cubits. But this seems to be at variance with the words of the text, which compute these two thousand cubits not from the opposite side to the opposite, but from one and the same side and quarter; for they say: "Toward the East two thousand shall be the cubits, and toward the South likewise shall be two thousand," and as many toward the North, as many toward the West.
Reconciliation of the Thousand and Two Thousand Cubits Fourth, Abulensis holds that here we should follow not the Hebrew text, but our Interpreter: for these suburbs extended a thousand paces, and a thousand paces make two thousand cubits. Although a pace is greater than a cubit and contains five feet, when we measure a fixed pace, namely both feet of the measurer and three feet intercepted between his two feet in the pace, nevertheless if you measure and take a pace that is mobile and continuously advancing, you will find it contains only four feet. For the first foot is counted only in the first pace, so that this first pace has five feet; in the following paces, however, only the remaining four feet are counted, succeeding one another continuously, as is evident to experience; and four feet make two cubits and a little more. Therefore these thousand paces are the same as two thousand cubits, of which the following verse speaks. Vilalpandus adds, part I On the City and Temple, book II, chapter II, that the common cubit is a foot and a half, but the sacred cubit is two feet and a half, so that two sacred cubits make a pace, that is five feet. You will say: In the Hebrew both in this verse and in the following is the same word אמה amma, which signifies a cubit: how then does our Interpreter render it here as a pace, but in the following verse as a cubit? It could be answered that amma signifies not only a cubit but also a pace: for this is taught not only by our Interpreter but also by Eugubinus; and that the Interpreter renders the same word amma first as a pace and then immediately as a cubit is not surprising, because he himself saw that the circumstances of the place required this; otherwise there would be a manifest contradiction here. Fifth, because the Hebrew texts consistently have amma, by aleph, not by ain, which in Scripture always signifies a cubit, never a pace, therefore the Chaldean, the Septuagint and all other interpreters, or rather I should say our Interpreter, takes a pace here, not the greater or geometric one, which comprises five feet, but the lesser or common one, so that it is the same as a cubit. For in walking, the common pace, such as that of those walking slowly and modestly, is equal to a cubit, if you subtract from it the first foot, as being that on which you stand, and count only the space between the two feet interposed and the foot itself which you extend and advance in this pace. For thus this lesser pace contains about a foot and a half; and a cubit contains the same amount. You will say: How then in this verse are the suburbs reckoned at a thousand paces or cubits, but in the following verse at two thousand cubits? I suppose that both the cities and these suburbs were of circular or oval form. Now I say: This contradiction can be solved and reconciled in two ways: first, if with Cajetan we say that these suburbs were a thousand cubits, but their circle or perimeter was about eight thousand cubits; so that this perimeter from any quarter of the world, that is direction, had two thousand cubits. For which note: In a circle the circumference has a triple proportion to the diameter, and a little more, so that if the diameter is two thousand cubits, the circumference is six thousand cubits. Here, however, the semi-diameter of the suburbs was a thousand cubits: to these add the diameter of the city itself, which was about six hundred cubits, so that the diameter of both the city and these suburbs was 2600 cubits; from which it necessarily follows that the circumference of both the city and these suburbs was about eight thousand cubits; for three times 2600 makes eight thousand, except for two hundred, which must be added here, because the circumference is a little more than triple the diameter: now divide eight thousand by the four directions of the world, you will find the fourth part of the circumference of the suburbs, which faced each direction, was about two thousand cubits. And this is what is said in the following verse, that on each direction there were two thousand cubits. "Moses," says Cajetan, "established the circumference of the suburbs at eight thousand cubits, whether the city be great or small, so that there might be one common law concerning the space of the suburbs. For he judged it fair that the diameter of any city should be internally six hundred cubits; although one city was greater than another, nevertheless by weighing the greater with the smaller and conversely, he established the suburbs equal; for with the diameter being 2600 cubits, equally according to geometric proportions, the circumference is determined to be eight thousand cubits, according to the triple proportion and a little more." But, because the angle (as it is in the Hebrew) of each region, in the following verse, is ordered to be extended to two thousand cubits, and because angle properly signifies not the circumference of a circle, but an angle or triangle, and because God here precisely commands one thousand paces, that is cubits, to be measured outside each city; but the cities were some large, some small: hence secondly, you would more aptly understand these two thousand cubits, not in the circumference, but in the corners or lines drawn from the center, namely from the walls of the city, extending to the circumference of the suburbs; for these lines, since they are two for each region of the world, so that they may together contain and comprehend the whole, make one angle at the center where they meet, and two angles at the circumference where they terminate, and thus make a triangle. Whence you would translate the Hebrew thus word for word: you shall measure to the angle of the East two thousand cubits: the same to the angle of the South, West and North. For God seems here to describe a circle of the city with its suburbs, so that the center is the city, and the circumference is terminated at one thousand cubits all around outside the walls of the city. But He divides this circle, toward the four regions, into four as it were triangles, each of which is isosceles, that is, it has two sides, which are drawn from the center to the circumference, equal. He therefore commands here that the suburbs extend in every direction, toward the four regions of the world, to one thousand cubits, and that the Eastern region be described by two lines, drawn from the city to the circumference of the suburbs, which two lines comprehend the Eastern side, in the manner of a triangle. In like manner, by two lines He commands a second triangle to be described, toward the Western region, and in like manner a third triangle toward the South, and a fourth toward the North; so that each region is described by a triangle, with two lines drawn from the city to the circumference already mentioned, each of which contains one thousand cubits, so that the two lines drawn to the circumference of each region, which are the two equal sides of this triangle, together contain two thousand cubits. Thus therefore we easily reconcile this contradiction; for we say that the suburbs extended only to one thousand cubits all around, but each region was described as it were by a triangle, so that it had two sides, each of which was one thousand cubits, and consequently both sides taken together were two thousand cubits.
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6. OF THE CITIES THEMSELVES, WHICH YOU SHALL GIVE TO THE LEVITES, SIX SHALL BE SEPARATED FOR THE AID OF FUGITIVES, THAT HE WHO SHALL HAVE SHED BLOOD MAY FLEE TO THEM, — who shall have killed someone, understand unwillingly or unknowingly, as is said in verse 11, and Joshua xx, 3; for these cities were constituted as asylums for the protection of the innocent: hence the homicide ought to claim innocence, before he was admitted to these asylums. "He shall stand," says Joshua, xx, 4, "before the gate of the city, and shall speak to the ancients of that city those things which prove him innocent, and so they shall receive him, and shall give him a place to dwell in." For under the old law, on account of the hardness of that people, it was permitted to kinsmen to kill the slayer of their relative, without any other condemnation by a judge, wherever they found him, as appears in verses 19 and 27. Therefore God commanded these cities of refuge to be established, to which those who had committed slaughter might betake themselves, so that they would be safe there, until their case was examined, and this either at the gate of the city to which they had fled, or in that place where the homicide was committed, as I shall say in verse 25. Hence they were led there, and there the kinsmen of the slain brought suit against them, in which if they were found innocent, namely that they had committed the slaughter not on purpose, but ignorantly, by chance, or in self-defense, they were sent back to the place of refuge, as is said in verse 25; but if they were found guilty, namely that they had killed knowingly and on purpose, they themselves were killed. On this side of the Jordan, Moses designated three cities of refuge, namely Bezer, Ramoth and Golan. But he commands here in verse 11, that after the Hebrews have crossed the Jordan, in the promised land, they designate three others in addition; which was indeed done, Joshua cap. xx, verse 7. The cities of refuge therefore were in all six, to which God commanded three others to be added, Deuteronomy xix, 9, namely then, when the borders of the Hebrews had been more extended. Moreover, all the cities of refuge were inhabited by Levites, namely, so that the dignity of the priesthood might more easily prevent unjust force, and so that by men learned in human and divine law, namely by Levites and priests, such capital judgments might be judged more rightly and more holily. You will ask whether the city in which the tabernacle was, or the tabernacle itself, was an asylum. Tostatus denies it, Question XI; Covarruvias affirms it, cap. xx, conclusion 2. But I say that the altar and the tabernacle were an asylum; but not the city itself in which they were. It is evident from the fact that Joab fled from the city to the tabernacle and altar, as to an asylum: for this place is sacred in itself. The same is gathered from Exodus xxi, 14. Thus Serarius in Joshua xx, Question VII, where he confirms it with more arguments.
Mystical Explanation of the Six Cities of Refuge St. Ambrose has a mystical explanation of the six cities of refuge in his book On Flight from the World, chapter 11; and from him Serarius in Joshua xx, Question XII; and Magalianus in the same place, verse 9, annotation 4, where he teaches that for the penitent the mystical asylums are contrition, prayer, the grace of God, the Sacraments and entrance into Religious life. "The law teaches, says St. Ambrose, that the world is to be fled and God to be followed. Moreover, the refuges of six cities are such that the first city is knowledge of the Word, and a manner of living according to His image. The second is consideration of divine operation, by which the world was created. The third is contemplation of royal power and eternal majesty. The fourth is the regard of divine propitiation. The Fifth is contemplation of divine law, which prescribes what is to be done. The sixth is the portion of law which prescribes what is not to be done." Thus St. Romualdus, fleeing to a monastery from a slaughter in which he had participated, exchanged a literal asylum for a mystical one, and becoming a monk, he instituted the Order of the Camaldolese; in which he lived in wonderful holiness to one hundred years, and died in the 120th year of his age.
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15. BOTH TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND TO STRANGERS AND SOJOURNERS, — namely to those converted to Judaism, that is, to proselytes. For these are called strangers and sojourners: namely a stranger, or as it is in Hebrew, ger, is one who has now first, or certainly not long ago, come and joined himself to Judaism. A sojourner, however, or as it is in Hebrew, toscab, is one who came formerly and has dwelt for a long time among the Israelites. Thus Serarius in Joshua xx, Question VI. Proselytes therefore enjoyed the right of asylum, but not Gentiles remaining in paganism. Thus Abulensis and Serarius; although Masius and Magalinus think that the right of asylum was also granted here to these Gentiles, which opinion is not improbable. Note: The Jews by birth had three privileges which proselytes lacked: first, if a slave were a Jew, in the seventh and fiftieth year he became free; but not if he were a proselyte, Leviticus xxv, 40 and 43. Second, Jews enjoyed the privilege of remission of debts in the seventh year, not proselytes, Deuteronomy xv, 3. Third, Jews could not lend at usury to Jews, but to proselytes, Deuteronomy xxiii, 19. In other matters, the laws were equal for both. Thus Abulensis. THAT HE MAY FLEE TO THEM, WHO SHALL HAVE SHED BLOOD UNWILLINGLY (involuntarily; in Hebrew, in ignorance). — Note: Properly these cities of refuge were established for homicides alone, not for those who had merely injured another. If, however, these had fled to them, they enjoyed the common right of asylum. Again, voluntary murderers did not have the right of asylum. But what if someone had killed another voluntarily, yet in defending himself, and repelling force by force? I answer: He had the right of asylum, indeed, when this innocence of his was proved, he was sent home free from the asylum, because he was not a murderer and guilty, but plainly innocent. Thus Abulensis, Question V, in chapter xx of Joshua, and likewise Serarius and Magalianus there. If, however, someone had committed slaughter in the very asylum, namely in the cities of refuge, he did not enjoy the right of asylum. Thus Abulensis, in the same place, Question XIX. The cause of asylums was reverence for temples and sacred places, and for God Himself. For while the house of God is held as most sacred, and as an asylum, His glory and majesty are celebrated. Second, His mercy and kindness are commended, while He receives into His protection the wretched guilty who flee to Him. Thus the pagan Greeks established an altar of mercy, as Pausanias testifies, book I in the Athenian matters. Thus Romulus established an asylum at Rome, as St. Augustine testifies, book I of The City of God, chapter xxxiv, but for all men, even the most wicked. Thus Alaric and the Goths, when they had taken Rome, spared the Romans fleeing to churches; indeed, when a certain Goth found sacred vessels with a consecrated virgin, and she said to him: "These vessels have been entrusted to me from the sanctuary of Blessed Peter; touch them if you dare; I do not dare to give sacred things to you;" the Goth, terrified at the name of the Apostle, reported this to the king; he immediately ordered all to be returned to the sanctuary of St. Peter, saying that "he was waging war with the Romans, not with the Apostles of Jesus Christ." Thus Rodericus of Toledo, book II of Spanish History, chapter v. Memorably, Agesilaus, when he had defeated the Athenians in battle, forbade those fleeing to the temple of Minerva to be violated; although in that battle he himself had received several wounds, and seemed very angry at them. But religion prevailed with him more than anger. He did the same among the Barbarians, saying that there is no right of war in temples; and he added that he marveled that they were not held to be sacrilegious, who would harm suppliants there, and those beseeching through the Gods, nor were heavier punishments inflicted on those who diminished religion than on those who despoiled temples. Judging rightly that the salvation of men is dearer to the gods than the mute ornaments of temples. Thus Aemilius Probus.
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17. IF HE SHALL HAVE CAST A STONE, AND THE PERSON STRUCK SHALL DIE, HE SHALL BE PUNISHED IN LIKE MANNER, — namely if the person struck by the stone should expire immediately; for if he had risen from the blow, or walked, the striker, or rather the thrower, was not put to death, but only paid the expenses of the cure to the injured party, as is clear from Exodus xxi, 19.
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19. THE KINSMAN OF THE SLAIN SHALL KILL THE HOMICIDE,—that is, shall be able to kill him. For this is not a precept, but only a permission made to hard-hearted men, and that to restrain murders, which all would know were to be avenged immediately by so many kinsmen with bitter spirit. Yet those who killed the homicide sinned, if they did so from hatred and anger, as usually happens. Whence in Leviticus xix, 17, in the forum of soul and conscience God commands the Hebrews to forget injuries. Therefore the vengeance which is here permitted did not remove guilt, but only gave impunity of the deed, or of the guilt in the external forum. This again is evident from the fact that these kinsmen of the slain often killed an innocent and entirely involuntary homicide, indeed one absolved by the judge, if namely they found him outside the city of refuge somewhere, as is plain from verse 27: but this could not be done without sin. Third, the same is evident from the fact that these precepts are judicial, which establish the law that is to be observed, and according to which judgment is to be rendered in the external forum. Thus Abulensis and Cajetan. It is permitted here therefore to the kinsmen of the slain to kill the homicide, wherever they find him outside the cities of refuge. For in the refuge they could not touch the homicide: for there the judges ought to provide him security, until his case should be examined; in which if he were condemned, the kinsmen of the slain could kill him and, as is here intimated, the homicide was delivered by the judge to the kinsmen and relatives of the slain, that he might be slain by them, and that to satisfy their anger and offense: but if he were declared innocent, he was safely restored to the refuge, and there he ought to remain until the death of the high priest. Thus Abulensis.
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20. IF HE SHALL PUSH,—understand into fire, water, a pit, etc. But if by chance.—In Hebrew, bepeta, that is suddenly, unexpectedly, which is by chance.
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25. HE SHALL BE RESTORED (the homicide, who killed another by chance, and has now been declared innocent by the judge) BY SENTENCE INTO THE CITY TO WHICH HE HAD FLED.—"He shall be restored," that is, the judge by sentence will command him to be restored, either from the city and place in which the homicide was committed; for there his case seems to have been examined, because there witnesses and other greater indications of truth would be available, as Abulensis wishes, and this the word "shall be restored" intimates; or certainly from the very gate of the city of refuge, the judge will command him to be restored into the same city. For in this gate, namely among the Levites, where religion and justice were more sacred, Masius and Serarius in Joshua xx, and others, think this judgment concerning the nature of the homicide was held. Both opinion and exposition are probable.
The Death of the High Priest and Its Reasons AND HE SHALL REMAIN THERE UNTIL THE HIGH PRIEST (pontiff) DIE. — You will ask why? The Rabbis give various reasons, which Serarius reviews in chapter xx of Joshua, Question V, which being omitted, I say: The first reason was, that meanwhile by the length of time, the anger and bitterness of the relatives might be mitigated, lest, when they should see him, they kill him; but when the high priest is now dead, they might think that anger also ought to die and be extinguished, because the high priest, the prince of sacred rites and expiations, by whom the offense was committed while he lived, is dead; and therefore in his death and mourning all private wrongs and injuries ought to be buried. Thus Theodoret, Question LI. Second, because the high priest was as it were the father of the nation, so that while he lived the commonwealth flourished, when he died even to that age, or century, an end seemed to be imposed. Thus Magalianus in Joshua chapter xx. Third, because the high priest represented the person of God, against whom the homicide had sinned, and therefore the homicide redounded to the injury of the high priest, so that deservedly while he lived the homicide ought to be shut up, lest he should freely lift up his head among men, while he lives who is esteemed on earth as God's interpreter, and as it were shadows forth the divine majesty, observing from the highest pinnacle of the high priestly dignity what things are done piously or impiously. And this is hinted at by he who is anointed with holy oil, that is to say, Let the homicide lie hidden while the high priest lives, in whom the divine majesty is violated by such a deed, which meanwhile was perpetrated while he was performing the priesthood for God the Most High. Thus Magalianus above, and Masius in Joshua chapter xx. Fourth, this was given as a grace to the new high priest, who succeeded upon the death of the former, so that just as a new one approaches God to propitiate him for men, so also he might bestow a new benefit and salvation upon the wretched defendants, who seem worthy of it. Fifth, "God wished to show," says Oleaster, "how much a priest ought to abhor homicides, even involuntary ones." Again, the high priest was God's vicar, and performed the office of divine justice, by which God demands vengeance from men; and when he died, the adverse party seemed to be extinguished, which would demand vengeance for God, and therefore then the defendant was altogether absolved. Sixth and the principal reason was, that true liberty might be signified, which through the death of Christ the high priest has been obtained for homicides, that is, for all sinners. Thus Serarius. Whence: Allegorically Cyril, book VIII On Adoration, p. 465: "Homicides," he says, "were the human race, and men sinners before the advent of Christ, who by their sins had killed their own souls, not willingly, but enticed and impelled by concupiscence. These, repenting, fled, and hid themselves in cities of refuge, that is, in the limbo of the fathers, until the death of the high priest, that is Christ, who loosened their bonds, and led them out from limbo and hell." Thus also St. Gregory, homily 6 on Ezekiel.
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27. THE AVENGER OF BLOOD, — that is, the blood relative, to whom vengeance belongs. WITHOUT GUILT, — he shall not be punished. In Hebrew: no blood, namely, shall be imputed to him, so that he pay his own for it.
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30. By witnesses (in Hebrew, at the mouth of witnesses, namely of many, not one) shall he be put to death.
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33. DO NOT POLLUTE THE LAND, — by homicide. Concerning homicide, on account of its enormity, it is said that it pollutes the land, which has received innocent blood shed, as if it were to cast a moral stain and blemish upon the land, especially if the land be holy, or God exhibit himself in it in a peculiar manner, as he did in the land of the children of Israel; and that this stain is removed by just vengeance and the death of the homicide. Thus concerning certain other sins, such as Sodomy, the defrauding of the wages of laborers, the oppression of the poor and orphans, Scripture says that they themselves cry out to heaven, because by their enormity, they as it were demand vengeance from God.
Moral Lesson: The Inviolability of Church Asylum Learn in this chapter, morally, how great is the right of asylum and how the asylum of the church ought to be kept inviolate: hence those who violated it were gravely punished by God. First, Heliodorus, wishing to claim for himself the gold deposited in the temple, was scourged by an angel, and was scarcely freed by the prayers of Onias, II Maccabees III. Second, Nicanor, II Maccabees xiv, despising God and swearing that he would dedicate the temple of the Lord to Liber Pater unless Judas, who was there, were delivered up, was slain. Third, St. Augustine, epistle 6 in the Appendix, severely rebuked Boniface the Count, acting with the Goths in Africa, a general of the army, because he ordered that one who had fled to the church be dragged away from there. "I marvel," he says, "how so suddenly the ram of the enemy has broken through the wall of faith; for I have always known with what reverence you have venerated the Church of God. What urgency, brother, compelled you to snatch a man from the church? If your fugitive slave should perhaps presume thus concerning your friend, he could doubtless merit pardon on account of the intercessor; therefore, if a friend is intended, why is God offended? But if it is presumed concerning power, consider King Nebuchadnezzar, who on account of pride was changed from a man into a beast. I write this not to confound you, but to admonish my most beloved son. Therefore restore to the Church unharmed him whom you snatched away as most irreligiously." He then inflicts a penalty upon him, saying: "Moreover, I have decreed that the offering of your house not be received by the clergy; and I forbid you communion, until, having completed the penance defined by me for your deeds or error, you offer to God a sacrifice worthy with a contrite and humbled heart." Fourth, in the year of the Lord 606, and in the fourth year of the reign of Phocas, Scholasticus, a religious man, a eunuch of the palace, receiving Constantina the lady, formerly Augusta, the wife of the Emperor Maurice, with three of her daughters, fled to the great church. But the tyrant hastened into the church to drag away the women. The Patriarch Cyriacus then resisted the tyrant, in no way allowing the women to be tyrannically abducted from the temple. But when the tyrant had given him a certain oath that he would not harm them, they were led out of the temple and shut up in a monastery. Thus from Theophanes and Cedrenus, Baronius in the year of Christ 606. Fifth, Aspar and Ardaburius, demanding back a certain John, who had fled to the monastery of St. Marcellus, sent soldiers to drag him out by force; but, as St. Marcellus prayed, lightning sent upon the soldiers repelled them, so that the cruel Ardaburius spared John and changed his ways. Thus the Life of St. Marcellus has it. Baronius thinks that on the occasion of this miracle it came to pass that the Emperor Leo promulgated an excellent sanction concerning the immunity of those fleeing to the church in that very year, thus writing to Erythraeus the prefect of the praetorium: "By the present law we decree to be valid in all places, that you consent to no one whatsoever, of whatever condition they may be, to be expelled from the most holy churches of the orthodox faith, or to be delivered up, or to be dragged away." Sixth, about the year of the Lord 1000, Veremundus XI, king of Leon and Asturias, deceived by a whisperer, ordered that Gudesteus, Bishop of Oviedo, be seized; but that so great a crime might not proceed unpunished, there came to pass a great drought in the land, so that the whole people was pressed by lack of food: and when it had been revealed to some by the Lord that famine had happened on account of the injury to the Bishop, and the revelation had been made known to the king, he immediately absolved the Bishop, and through Semenus, Bishop of Astorga, caused Gudesteus to be restored; and immediately the Lord sent down abundant rain, and the earth brought forth its fruits. Seventh, concerning Sancho the Greater, king of Navarre and Castile, almost all the writers of Spanish affairs relate that, when one day in hunting he was pursuing a boar, the boar, exhausted, took refuge within the remaining walls which were the memorial of St. Antoninus the Martyr, standing at the sacred altar left there, as if at a safe asylum accustomed to be surrounded by the protection of angels, according to that oracle: "Men and beasts thou wilt save, O Lord." When the king attacked it with his spear, he felt his raised arm suddenly rendered useless by numbness; but recognizing his guilt and beseeching the Martyr, he felt it divinely restored to its former use, and learned at his own cost how great immunity was owed to sacred places, even if they appeared to have fallen into ruin, so that not even a beast fleeing there might be harmed, as Rodericus and Vasaeus say, and from them Baronius, in the year of the Lord 1032. Eighth, Eutropius, eunuch of the Emperor Arcadius, infamous for every kind of wickedness, when he had extorted a law from the Emperor by which all immunity was abolished, and it was permitted even to drag away those taking refuge at the altars; he himself, later declining the Emperor's wrath, was dragged from the altar to which he had fled, sent into exile, and thence recalled was beheaded, as witnessed by Suidas in his article on Eutropius, and by Chrysostom in his oration against Eutropius, and through the efforts of Chrysostom the unjust law was abrogated. Ninth, concerning St. Basil, Nazianzenus writes in his oration about him, that he protected a widow embracing the altar from the injury of the Prefect. Tenth, concerning St. Ambrose, Paulinus writes that he defended Cresconius, lest he be seized there by the lictors; when he did not obtain this, those who dragged him away were torn to pieces in the theatre by wild beasts, which had been sent against them. Eleventh, Orosius in book VII, chapter thirty-six, records the punishment of the violator of asylum, the duke Mascezilis. Finally, what you will marvel at more, St. Justus, leaving the bishopric of Lyons, withdrew into the desert of Egypt, and lay hidden there for a long time, doing penance, because he had rejected a man who had taken refuge in the church, in order to calm the fury of the people, having first received a pledge from the magistrate that he would intend no danger to that man. Thus his Life has it in Surius, volume V.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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RIFUGIO, City of. - One of the Mosaic laws dating from the period of the stay in the "steppes of Moab" (Num. 21:1 ff.; 35:1 ff.) prescribes for Israel's future settlement in its lands the choice of the "Levitical cities" (ibid. 35:1-5) and, among them, of six cities, three east and three west of the Jordan, …
35:6
… the Mosaic Law the right of asylum was established and six cities were designated where those guilty of involuntary bloodshed (qui nolens sanguinem fuderit) could find safe refuge while the trial against them was being conducted (Ex. 21, 13-14; Num. 35, 6 and 11-34; Deut. 4, 41-43). The benefit of asylum was extended also to citizens of another nationality or religion; excluded from it were those guilty of crimes such as theft, adultery, …
35:9
… Israel's future settlement in its lands the choice of the "Levitical cities" (ibid. 35:1-5) and, among them, of six cities, three east and three west of the Jordan, which were to have the right of asylum (v.) for those responsible for involuntary homicide (ibid. 35:9 ff.). …
35:15
… This plain, over which Jebel Musa rises by only 644 m., traversed by wadis and watered by springs, about 1200 m. long and about 900 m. wide, with great possibilities for pasture, is identified with the midhbar Sinaj (Ex. 19:2; Num. 1:1; 35:15), from where the people witnessed the divine proclamation of the Law. Steep cliffs prevent the ascent of the mountain (Ex. 19:72, 93); at two-thirds of its height there is a plateau, …
35:16
… of Penuel, localities near the river Jabbok, captured and killed them, probably after having led them to Ophrah, his city (Judg. 8:4-21). Gideon, besides exercising a right of war, intended thereby to avenge the blood of his brothers (cf. Ex. 21:12; Num. 35:16-18). The episode is also recalled in Ps. 83:11. Angelo Penna
… His code of laws, in many points, coincides with that of the Assyrian monarch Hammurabi, certainly earlier and a witness to a civilization in some respects more advanced; it forbids, for example, avenging by oneself the killing of a relative (Num. 35, 16-21). Such indications authorize the thought that the points of agreement must rather be explained by the fact of common traditions than by derivations (v. ARCA DELL'ALLEANZA; HAMMURABI; …
35:18
… only in the case where the authority has ruled that it truly was deliberate homicide, so that "vengeance is not only restrained, but reduced to having more the appearance than the reality of private execution" (A. Vaccari, La S. Bibbia, I, Rome 1942, on Num. 35:18 ff.; trans. and note on p. 431). Three cities of refuge in Cisjordan offered to involuntary homicide the possibility of escaping the unreasonable vengeance of the avenger of blood (Deut. …
35:25
… By instituting asylum at the altar for the desert period (Ex. 21:12-14), and, when this had become insufficient, in the cities of refuge, he placed a curb upon it, which many times annulled its effects (cf. Num. 35:25; etc.).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.