Yehoshua Chapter 20: Cities on a Hill

Moshe set aside three cities of refuge in Deuteronomy and now Joshua completes the project. The three established by Moshe could not function without the three inside the land that Joshua establishes. The text lays out the exact locations of the cities: “So they set aside Kedesh in the hill country of Naphtali in Galilee, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba—that is, Hebron—in the hill country of Judah/ And across the Jordan, east of Jericho, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness, in the Tableland, from the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh” (וַיַּקְדִּשׁוּ אֶת־קֶדֶשׁ בַּגָּלִיל בְּהַר נַפְתָּלִי וְאֶת־שְׁכֶם בְּהַר אֶפְרַיִם וְאֶת־קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע הִיא חֶבְרוֹן בְּהַר יְהוּדָה׃ וּמֵעֵבֶר לְיַרְדֵּן יְרֵחוֹ מִזְרָחָה נָתְנוּ אֶת־בֶּצֶר בַּמִּדְבָּר בַּמִּישֹׁר מִמַּטֵּה רְאוּבֵן וְאֶת־רָאמֹת בַּגִּלְעָד מִמַּטֵּה גָד וְאֶת־גּוֹלָן בַּבָּשָׁן מִמַּטֵּה מְנַשֶּׁה) (verses 7-8). The Three in the trans-Jordan are easy to split. Each of the three tribes gets one city. This allows someone who needs to flee a close place no matter where they are. Inside Canaan, things would be more complicated with nine and half tribes. The cities are evenly spread out there as well, with one in the far north in Naftali, one in the center in Ephraim and one in the south in Yehuda. There is a geographical note that the text mentions- all three cities of refuge in Canaan were in hilltop cities. What would the Navi need to emphasize that there cities were on hills? Two of the cities in the trans-Jordan do not have geographical descriptors. Perhaps there was a strategic reason for the cities to be on hills. A city full of accidental murderers would be a target for the vengeful relatives, despite the decree of safety. The strategic hilltop location would provide extra security. Perhaps the high elevation also allowed the city elders and watchmen to be on the lookout for refugees. The ability to see someone running from afar would allow those in the city to quickly prepare for the arrival of a potential inhabitant in case a decision needed to be made post-haste. Perhaps the cities were high up to make it difficult to get to the cities. One could not willy-nilly approach one of the cities. One needed to exert the effort that only one fleeing for their life would exert. The cities could have been high up so as to be readily visible to those from afar. Because the cities in Canaan were only in a few tribal lands, unlike those in the Trans-Jordan, perhaps those fleeing from other tribal lands would not be as familiar with the terrain. It would be helpful then to be able to see these cities form far away. Finally, perhaps it was more symbolic. The cities of refuge represented the desire for law and order despite what local custom would be. Such symbols of a just society should be places up high for all to see and remember.