Numbers 35:10- “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you pass over the Yardĕn into the land of Kena‛an, then you shall choose cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the one who accidentally killed someone shall flee there. And they shall be cities of refuge for you from the revenger, and the one who killed someone is not to die until he stands before the congregation in right-ruling.‘“

Later in Joshua 21 we see that one of these cities of refuge is Hebron H2275 – ḥeḇrôn. The meaning of the name is Association, Company, Shared or Society. Hebron appeared in Genesis 13 already, where Abraham made an altar there, and later Sarah also died there. It is considered one of the oldest cities of the Levites, and even Isaac and Jacob lived there. Later in 1 Samuel 30 to 2 Samuel 2, we see that David fled to Hebron after hearing of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. It is in Hebron where he was anointed king over Judah, and establishing it as his first capital.

Numbers 35 is hard to read about all the murdering. Remember that from the beginning when Cain killed Abel, YHWH said “a life for a life”. However to prevent a killing spree of people taking revenge on each others’ families indefinitely, there are some rules. Like “no more killing after the High Priest dies”. There also must be witnesses, and a place of refuge for people who claim the death was an accident.