Tyndale Open Study NotesJoshua 20

• As he had promised, God brought Israel into the land. Joshua then focused on dividing the land among Israel's tribes.

• The tribal allowances made the covenant of the Israelites with God real. It showed the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Since God owned the land, giving it to the tribes was a gift. God gave them the land to live in and guided its distribution.

• In these lists of tribal allowances, the author describes some borders in great detail, allowing them to be mapped. With others, they are less plainly defined.

Before they fully divided the land, Joshua had to establish six cities of refuge and assign cities in which the Levites would live.

These verses review the law about cities of refuge (see also Numbers 35:6–34).

The relatives of a victim murdered or killed unintentionally or accidentally were responsible for seeking revenge. If the avenger (Hebrew go’el) found the person who killed outside a city of refuge, he could kill him without suffering punishment.

Joshua chose six cities of refuge. Three were on the east side of the Jordan River and three were on the west side. From anywhere in the land, people could reach one of these well-known Levitical cities within two days of travel.

Israel's treatment of foreigners was an important advance in human relations. The law required that foreign residents in Israel receive the same justice as native Israelites (see Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:33–34; 24:22; Numbers 15:15–16).