Joshua 20:9

9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood 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 And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in Mount Naphtali, and Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba (which is Hebron) in the mountain of Judah.

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

9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.