Joshua 20:6

Jos 20:6 And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, [and] until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.

Ver. 6. Until he stand before the congregation for judgment.] Until his cause be tried, and the truth bolted out, that he may be cleared or doomed by the judges, with the assent of the people, whose voice should be Currat lex, fiat iustitia, ruat orbis.

Until the death of the high priest.] So long he shall live; in exile howsoever, because he should have looked better to it, there having been some heedlessness in the business. Besides, the high priest was amongst men the chief god upon earth, and so the offence did chiefly strike against him: lest, therefore, such an offender should happen to come into his presence, he might not be at liberty till the high priest’s death. Philo saith that the high priest was not to behold at any time any mournful object. Similarly among the Romans, Tiberius, counterfeiting grief for the death of Drusus, had a veil laid betwixt the dead and him at the funeral, that he might not see the body; because, forsooth, the high priest is a sacred thing, and the devil loveth to be God’s ape. See on Num 35:25.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jos 20:6. Stand — Which was the posture of the accused and accusers. The congregation — The council appointed to judge of these matters, not the council of the city of refuge, for they had examined him before, (Jos 20:4,) but of the city to which he belonged, or in or nigh which the fact was committed, as appears from Num 35:25.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Till his cause were proved.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

until the death of the high priest--His death secured the complete deliverance of the manslayer from his sin, only because he had been anointed with the holy oil (Num 35:25), the symbol of the Holy Ghost; and thus the death of the earthly high priest became a type of that of the heavenly one (Heb 9:14-15).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

6. until the death of the high priest] “To the tyme that the great priest dye,” Wyclif. The protection granted was provisional, until the manslayer and the pursuer could be duly heard by the assembly of the elders of the city where the occurrence took place, and the guilt or innocence of the former established. In the latter case the homicide was safely lodged in the City of Refuge until the death of the anointed High priest (Num_35:25).

then shall the slayer return] The death of the ruling High priest, “the head of the theocracy and representative of the whole people,” was regarded as of such importance that any other death was, so to speak, forgotten in consequence, and an amnesty ensued during which the manslayer was at liberty to return to his home. Thus as on the one hand by disallowing compensation by money in the case of wilful murder, the Jewish Law shewed a just regard for human life, and put the poor on the same footing as the rich, so on the other “the asylum afforded by Moses displayed the same benign regard for human life in respect of the homicide himself. Had no obstacle been put in the way of the Goel, instant death would have awaited any one who had the misfortune to occasion the death of another. By his wise arrangements, however, Moses interposed a seasonable delay, and enabled the manslayer to appeal to the laws and justice of his country. Momentary wrath could hardly execute its fell purposes, and a suitable refuge was provided for the guiltless and unfortunate.” Kitto’s Biblical Cyclopædia, i. p. 527.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he shall dwell in that city until he shall stand before the congregation for judgment,.... That is, until his cause was heard in the court of judicature in his own city, or in any other to which the avenger of blood should appeal: see Num 35:24; who if they found him guilty of death, they put him to death; but if only guilty of accidental manslaughter, then they delivered him up to his city of refuge for safety, where he was to abide

until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days; see Num 35:25,

then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled; and live with his family in the enjoyment of his possessions and estates, honours, and privileges belonging to him, as before; see Num 35:28.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Fact. Septuagint, "before the synagogue for judgment." (Haydock) --- Whether this took place in the same city, or where the murder was committed, (see Numbers xxxv. 12, 25.) the reasons are given why the manslayer was released at the death of the high priest. (Calmet) --- By the death of Christ, the greatest criminals are redeemed. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Standing was the posture of the accused and accusers, Exo 18:13; Isa 1:8; Zec 3:1.

Before the congregation, or, company, or assembly, to wit, the council appointed to judge of these matters: not the council of the city of refuge, for they had examined him before, Jos 20:4; but of the city to which he belonged, or in or nigh which the fact was committed, as appears from Num 35:25.

Until the death of the high priest; of which see Poole "Num 35:25".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. Until he stand before the congregation — The local authorities shall summon him and the Goel to appear before them for a judicial inquest and verdict. The congregation or jury was to hear both sides, and to decide whether the deed proceeded from malice or was accidental. If he was condemned he was to be executed; but if he was acquitted he was not set at liberty, but was sent back to live in the refuge till the death of the High Priest. Here we see the superiority of this system of protection over the pagan asylum of the altar, in the temple of some god, which shielded the guilty and the innocent alike.

Until the death of the high priest — This does not mean that the death of the High Priest takes place at the same time with the summons to trial. The only occasions on which an innocent manslayer may leave the refuge are, 1st, temporarily, for a trial where the manslaying occurred; and 2d, permanently, at the death of the High Priest.

Why should he be released when the High Priest dies? Probably because he was anointed as the representative and mediator of the people, who alone was able to offer annual expiation for the whole people. His death, therefore, may be regarded as an atonement prefiguring the death of our heavenly High Priest, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot unto God. Heb_9:14-15.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Until he stand before the congregation. That is, until he had had a fair trial. It was no object of the Jewish law to make a man a victim to passion. Until the death of the high priest. The further to protect the unwitting homicide from the consequences of an unjust revenge, he was, if innocent, to return to the city of refuge, and to dwell there until there was reasonable ground to suppose that the anger of the relatives of the slain man should have abated. This is clear from Num_35:24, Num_35:25. Why the period of the death of the high priest should have been fixed upon is not easy to explain. Keil thinks it is because the death of the high priest was typical of the death of Christ, and refers to Heb_9:14, Heb_9:15. But the reference is not to the point. The high priest"s death was in no sense typical of the death of Christ. His yearly entrance into the holy place once a year, on the Day of Atonement, was so typical. It might have been supposed that this yearly atonement would have been regarded as a propitiation for all the sins committed during the year. Certainly the fact that the high priest died the common death of all men, and the inauguration of his successor to fill his place could in no way be regarded as an atonement for sin. There is more force in Bahr"s suggestion in his "Symbolik" (2:52). The high priest, on this view, is the head of the theocracy, the representative of the covenant. He concentrates in his person (so Bahr puts it in another place see vol. 2:13) the whole people of Israel in their religious aspect. His death, therefore, stands in a connection with the life of Israel which that of no other man could do. "It is," says Maimonides ("Moreh Nevochim," 3.40), "the death of the most honoured and beloved man in all Israel. His death plunges the whole community into such distress that private sorrow is lost in the general affliction." Thus the covenant in a way recommences with the inauguration of the new high priest. Bahr complains that Philo has carried this view to an extravagant and fanciful extent. Hengstenberg ("Geschichte des Reiches Gottes," vol. 2, sec. 3, p. 258) takes the same view as Maimonides, that the high priest"s death was "a great calamity," affecting the whole nation.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Stand - Which was the posture of the accused and accusers. The congregation - The council appointed to judge of these matters, not the council of the city of refuge, for they had examined him before, ver. 4, but of the city to which he belonged, or in or nigh which the fact was committed, as appears from Num. xxxv, 25.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Until he stands, etc. for judgement. If he is acquited from exile, he is discharged. If he is sentanced to exile, he is returned to the city of his refuge, and he must reside there until the death of the Kohein-godol.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.