“…you shall provide for yourselves six cities of refuge. Three cities on the other side of the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan…” (Numbers 35:13-14)

The Talmud (Makkos 9b) wonders why the two and a half tribes living on the east side of the Jordan River needed the same number of cities of refuge as the nine and a half tribes living within the land of Canaan? The answer suggested is that on the east side of the Jordan, murder was more prevalent.

The problem with this answer is that the cities of refuge were only for people who killed unintentionally – not for actual murderers. So why would the prevalence of murder on the east side of the Jordan account for the disproportionate number of cities of refuge located there?

Some have suggested that in a society where life is cheap and murder has become routine – everyone becomes infected. Even ordinary people will come to take the value of life for granted and become less vigilant about public safety. In a society like this, where outright murder is prevalent, it will be inevitable that accidental killings will also be commonplace and more cities of refuge will be needed.

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