Abstract

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 L ord 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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