Makkot 9: Cities of Refuge and the Ger Moshav

A ger toshav, a stranger or non-Jew who sits with Jews and lives according the the Noahide laws, is exiled or even executed for committing an unintentional murder.  A person is considered to be living in a state of being forewarned, and thus s/he should have known not to do such a thing.  The rabbis attempt to determine what our texts teach about the cities of refuge - are Gentiles permitted to live there?  Or were they intended only for Jews?  Should there be a city of exile only for Gentiles?

The Gemara discusses Abimelech, Avraham and Sarah.  Abimelech returned Sarah because he learned that Avraham was a prophet.  What if he had not been a prophet? Shouldn't his wife have been returned in that case as well?  We are reminded of the verse, "Would you even slay a righteous nation? (Genesis 20:4).  The Gemara uses this as proof that a Gentile, a descendant of Noah, is executed even for an unintentional murder even if he says that it was permitted, because he actually should have known.

A new Mishna shares a conflict regarding a blind person who kills unintentionally.  Rabbi Yeduda says that he is exiled but Rabbi Meir disagrees.  This is considered to be so because one would know that s/he was forwarded.  When considering enemies, he principal is that when a witness could say that this was done knowingly, then the murderer is not exiled.  If a witness would say that it was done unknowingly, then the murderer is exiled. 

Another new Mishna teaches us to where unintentional murderers are exiled.  Three cities of refugee were in the east bank of the Jordan and three other cities of refuge were in the land of Canaan, or in Eretz Yisrael, as described in Numbers (35:14).  The rabbis discuss when and how the cities are built and used.   

They discern from Numbers (35:13) that all six cities would admit them equally.  Deuteronomy (19:3) instructs the community to build, level and pave roads between these city and the main cities.  Two Torah scholars should accompany the murderer so that if an avenger approaches, s/he can be dissuaded.  the nerdier can speak  on his own behalf as well.  Finally, we learn that at first, muderers (both intentional and unintentional) would flee to a city of refuge from which he would be brought back by the court of his city.  If when tried he was liable to be exiled, he would be accompanied back to the city of refuge again.

The Gemara begins with explaining where the cities of refuge were placed.  The rabbis describe three cities in two north-south rows.  These are Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron on the west, and Golan, Ramoth and Bezer on the east.