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CHAPTER TWO - Blood Feud and State Control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 November 2009

Pamela Barmash
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
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Summary

EACH OF the legal sources in the Pentateuch refers to homicide and assumes that the life of the manslayer was in grave danger. The Priestly law stipulates (Num 35:9–34):

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites and say to them: when you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you shall make accessible for yourselves cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, to which a slayer who strikes down a person by mistake may flee. The cities shall be as a refuge from the avenger, so that the slayer shall not die before he has stood trial before the assembly. The cities which are appointed shall be six cities of refuge in total. Three you shall appoint beyond the Jordan, and three you shall appoint in the land of Canaan: they shall be cities of refuge. The six cities shall be as refuge for the Israelites and the resident alien among them, so that anyone who kills unintentionally may flee there. If a person strikes another with an iron tool so that [the victim] dies, he is a murderer — the murderer shall surely be put to death. If a person strikes another with a stone tool that can kill so that the victim dies, he is a murderer — the murderer shall surely be put to death. If a person strikes another with a wooden tool that can kill so that the victim dies, he is a murderer — the murderer shall surely be put to death.[…]

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • Blood Feud and State Control
  • Pamela Barmash, Washington University, St Louis
  • Book: Homicide in the Biblical World
  • Online publication: 17 November 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511614170.003
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  • Blood Feud and State Control
  • Pamela Barmash, Washington University, St Louis
  • Book: Homicide in the Biblical World
  • Online publication: 17 November 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511614170.003
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Blood Feud and State Control
  • Pamela Barmash, Washington University, St Louis
  • Book: Homicide in the Biblical World
  • Online publication: 17 November 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511614170.003
Available formats
×