Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- CHAPTER ONE A First Case: The Story of Cain and Abel
- CHAPTER TWO Blood Feud and State Control
- CHAPTER THREE The Development of Places of Refuge in the Bible
- CHAPTER FOUR Pollution and Homicide
- CHAPTER FIVE Typologies of Homicide
- CHAPTER SIX Lex Talionis
- CHAPTER SEVEN Interterritorial Law: The Homicide of a Foreign Citizen
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Cuneiform Sources on Homicide
- Bibliography
- General Index
- Index of Citations
CHAPTER TWO - Blood Feud and State Control
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- CHAPTER ONE A First Case: The Story of Cain and Abel
- CHAPTER TWO Blood Feud and State Control
- CHAPTER THREE The Development of Places of Refuge in the Bible
- CHAPTER FOUR Pollution and Homicide
- CHAPTER FIVE Typologies of Homicide
- CHAPTER SIX Lex Talionis
- CHAPTER SEVEN Interterritorial Law: The Homicide of a Foreign Citizen
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Cuneiform Sources on Homicide
- Bibliography
- General Index
- Index of Citations
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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- Homicide in the Biblical World , pp. 20 - 70Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004