Order
16 And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
17 And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
18 Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
19 The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.
20 But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die;
21 Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.
22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait,
23 Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:
24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments:
25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.
26 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled;
27 And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:
28 Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
29 So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
Leviticus 35:16-29
Here we see the order contained within the cities of refuge. If you hold on for just a minute, I will explain it. See, there was a whole procedure to it. Remember the law we saw before of 'thou shalt not kill' for example. Here is how that would have been handled. It really is a restorative justice society and a vengeance-based place for capitol offenses if you will. The restorative justice was used for smaller petty things like theft. Then the larger issues such as murder would be considered capitol offenses. That happened for several reasons. First, if it did not society risked returning to the state before the flood where every man did whatever seemed good for him to do regardless of whether it was right or not. To prevent the return of the giants and the men who stalked the earth, this is what would happen. A capitol offense is one which took or seriously harmed the life of another. Ungrateful children who were also disobedient were considered a serious harm to their parents' lives in that day just as they are today.
Only back then, the situation was dealt with far more swiftly and severely to avoid outbreaks in those areas. Consider this. If you knew the punishment for disobeying your parents was death by stoning, chances are almost no one would want to act up. The parents also, knowing this, should be moved to treat their children with all appropriate filial affection, tender parental care, and guidance. Then too there was a procedure to this. It is almost like the courtroom dramas of today. If say a parent should one day tire of their child, they could not for instance give sole testimony to their disobedience. The matter was required to be told before all the men of the place, then they all decided together based on the evidence provided. Other capitol offenses such as murder which involved taking another's life were also the same way.
Since the life was taken, the order of the law demanded another be taken in return. It was meant in large part to deter people from committing crime. Yet at the same time, it also produced a certain sense of smug self-righteousness as whatever was muttered under the breath or in secret places often ended up sealing the fate. If you say you hate someone and given a reason why, it's still murder regardless of whether or not you actually picked up a large and heavy instrument. It's just known more simply as character assassination or any some such other name you want to give it. In a lot of ways, this could be considered feudal law. It keeps accounts short, the hangman closer, and any feelings neat and tidy. Does it actually solve the problem? No, but it's a good band-aid solution for the moment at least.
It doesn't do much to close the gap on why these things even keep happening to begin with. Does anybody know any better ways to solve that? The cities of refuge were also set up to accommodate the more serious capitol offenses. That way, say, if someone murdered accidentally or even intentionally, they could at least run there and be safe. No one could come and get them either. Everyone was kept alive and well-accounted for in this way. The only issue was that the person who did so was required to stay there for the rest of high priest's life. This was also a lot more simple, cost-effective solution. At least, it was simpler even than any prison would be. Prison is basically life locked up in some societies and reserved for anything from the most minor to the most severe offenses. If you had to write the law that governed order or basically kept it in check, how would you do it? Another time we'll look at this little thing called restorative justice.