(5) The Homicide. The asylum afforded by Moses displays the same benign regard to 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.
Yet, as there is a wide space between the inno cence of mere homicide and the guilt of actual murder, in which various degrees of blame might easily exist, so the legislator took means to make the condition of the manslayer less happy than it was before the act or the mischance, lest entire impunity might lead to the neglect of necessary precaution and care. With great propriety, there fore, was the homicide made to feeLsome legal inconvepience. Accordingly, he was removed from his patrimony, restricted in his sphere of locomotion, affected indirectly in his pecuniary interests, and probably reduced from an affluent or an easy station to one of service and labor. The benefit of the protection afforded was common to strangers and sojourners with native Israelites.
(6) Rabbinical Authority. What ensues rests on the authority of the Rabbins. In order to give the fugntive all possible advantage in his flight it was the business of the Sanhedrim to make the roads that led to the cities of refuge conven ient by enlarging them and removing every ob struction that might hurt his foot or hinder his speed. No hillock was left, no river was allowed over which there was not a bridge, and the road was at least two and thirty cubits broad. At every turning there were posts erected beating the words Refuge, Refuge, to guide the unhappy man in his flight, and two students in the law were appointed to accompany him, that, if the avenger should overtake him before he reached the city, they might attempt to pacify him till the legal investigation could take place.
When once settled in the city of refuge the manslayer had a convenient habitation assigned him gratuitously, and the citizens were to teach him some trade whereby he might support him self. To render his confinement more easy, the mothers of the high-priests used to feed and clothe these unfortunate fugitives, that they might not be impatient and pray for the death of their sons, on whose decease they were restored to their liberty and their property. if the slayer died in the city of refuge before he was released, his bones were delivered to his relations, after the death of the high-priest, to be buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. In addition to the right of asylum reference appears to be made to a custom which prevailed from very early times, both among the chosen people and the nations of the world, of fleeing, in case of personal danger, to the altar. With the Jews it was customary for the fugitive to lay hold of the horns of the altar, whether in the tabernacle or temple; by which, however. shelter and security were obtained only for those who had committed sins of ignorance or inad vertence; thus true did Moses remain to his prin ciple that the wilful shedding of human blood could only by blood be atoned—a principle which the advances of civilization and the spread of the gentle spirit of the gospel have caused to be questioned, if not exploded (Exod. xxi:14; t Kings i:5o; ii:28). From the last two passages it seems that state criminals also sought the pro tection of the altar, probably more from the force of custom than any express law. Their safety, however, depended on the will of the king, for in the passages referred to it appears that in one case (that of Adonijah) life was spared, hut in the other (that of Joab) it was taken away even 'by the altar' (Comp. Matt. xxiii:35).