{"id":49102,"date":"2019-02-10T15:56:28","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T13:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=49102"},"modified":"2022-09-04T16:25:25","modified_gmt":"2022-09-04T13:25:25","slug":"not-every-killing-is-a-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/not-every-killing-is-a-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Every Killing Is A Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This chapter tells of the law of the cities of refuge: three cities to the east of the Jordan and, later, three more within the land of Israel itself. There, people who had committed homicide could flee and find protection until their case was heard by a court of law. If they were found guilty of murder, in biblical times they were sentenced to death. If found innocent \u2013 if the death happened by accident or inadvertently, with neither deliberation nor malice \u2013 then they were to stay in the city of refuge \u201cuntil the death of the High priest.\u201d There, they were protected against revenge on the part of the <\/span>goel ha-dam<\/span><\/i>, the blood-redeemer, usually the closest relative of the person who had been killed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Homicide is never less than serious in Jewish law. But there is a fundamental difference between murder \u2013 deliberate killing \u2013 and manslaughter, accidental death. To kill someone not guilty of murder as an act of revenge for an accidental death is not justice but further bloodshed, and must be prevented. Hence the need for safe havens where people at risk could be protected\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the Torah rejects revenge except when commanded by God, something of the idea survives in the concept of the <\/span>goel ha-dam<\/span><\/i>, wrongly translated as \u2018blood-avenger.\u2019 It means, in fact, \u2018blood-redeemer.\u2019 A redeemer is someone who rights an imbalance in the world, who rescues someone or something and restores it to its rightful place… A blood-redeemer is one who ensures that murder does not go unpunished.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not all acts of killing are murder. Some are unintentional, accidental or inadvertent. These are the acts that lead to exile in the cities of refuge. However, there is an ambiguity about this law. Was exile to the cities of refuge considered as a way of protecting the accidental killer, or was it itself a form of punishment?<\/span><\/p>\n

In truth both elements are present. On the one hand the Torah says, \u201cThe assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the redeemer of blood and send the accused back to the city of refuge to which they fled\u201d (Num. 35: 25). Here the emphasis is on protection. But on the other, we read that if the exiled person \u201cever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which they fled and the redeemer of blood finds them outside the city, the redeemer of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder\u201d (Num. 35: 26-27). Here an element of guilt is presumed, otherwise why would the blood redeemer be innocent of murder?<\/span><\/p>\n

\nFrom:\u00a0<\/span>Retribution and Revenge (Covenant & Conversation, Matot-Masei 5775)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":101762,"id":101762,"title":"-62029f2bc4076--62029f2bc4077gen4-murder blood blame.jpg","filename":"62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-prophet-an-initiator-a-murderer\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":34098,"date":"2022-02-08 16:49:47","modified":"2023-12-17 15:27:32","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":960,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62029f2bc4076-62029f2bc4077gen4-murder-blood-blame.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Not Every Killing Is A Murder","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"But intentional or not - 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