Passage Research
Joshua 20 — Sermon Preparation
Six cities of refuge are designated across the land so that anyone who kills someone accidentally has a place to flee from the avenger of blood. Below is a research summary for Joshua 20, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 9
- verses
- 172 / 92
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 7
- classic sermon excerpts
- 4
- preachers & commentators
Joshua 20 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עִיר | ʻîyr | H5892 | 9 | city, waking |
| נוּס | nûwç | H5127 | 4 | flit, vanish |
| רָצַח | râtsach | H7523 | 3 | dash, kill |
| גָּאַל | gâʼal | H1350 | 3 | redeem, be the next of kin |
| דָבַר | dâbar | H1696 | 4 | arrange, speak |
| מַטֶּה | maṭṭeh | H4294 | 3 | branch, extending |
| דָּם | dâm | H1818 | 3 | blood, juice |
How preachers through history handled this text
7 public-domain excerpts on Joshua 20, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“This short chapter is concerning the cities of refuge, which we often read of in the writings of Moses, but this is the last time that we find mention of them, for now that matter was thoroughly settled. Here is, I. The law God gave concerning them, ver. 1-6. II. The people's designation of the particular cities for that use, ver. 7-9. And this remedial law was a figure of good things to come. The Cities of Refuge. (b. c. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 2 (Joshua to Esther), on Joshua 20:1–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Galilee 1— Josh 20:7
- Hebron— Josh 20:7
- Kedesh 5— Josh 20:7
- Shechem— Josh 20:7
- Bashan— Josh 20:8
- Bezer— Josh 20:8
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