Joshua 20:9

9 These were the cities appointed for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger that sojourns among them that anyone who kills any person by error might flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger {Heb. redeemer} of blood until he stands before the congregation.

Joshua 20:9 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 20:9

These were the cities appointed for all the children of
Israel
For the common use of them all, and not for that tribe only in which they stood:

and for the stranger that sojourneth among them;
not only for the proselytes of righteousness, but for the proselytes of the gate also, as well as for the natives of Israel; Christ is a refuge for Jews and Gentiles, for all sinners that flee to him:

that whosoever killeth any person unawares might flee thither;
and find shelter and safety:

and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood;
getting thither before he could overtake him:

until he stood before the congregation:
either before the congregation, the elders of the city, or court of judicature in the city of refuge, or before the court of his own city, from whence he fled, if summoned thither.

Joshua 20:9 In-Context

7 Then they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in the mountain of Naphtali and Shechem in the mountain of Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.

8 And on the other side of the Jordan of Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.

9 These were the cities appointed for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger that sojourns among them that anyone who kills any person by error might flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger {Heb. redeemer} of blood until he stands before the congregation.