Refuge and ‘sanctuary’

Cities of Refuge

So they fixed six Cities of Refuge, as they were called, to which people, who had killed someone by accident, could flee.  The cities were arranged so that there were three on the west side of the River Jordan, one in the north, one in the centre and one in the south; and three more, opposite to these, on the east side.  Wherever you were in the country you would never be more than 30 miles from one or other of these cities, so you could get there in a day.  When slayers took refuge in one of these cities, they were first of all tried and, if they were found innocent, were allowed to live there for a certain time, after which they could return home (Numbers 35:9-28).

Sanctuary

When the Roman Empire took Christianity as the State religion, certain churches were set apart in Christian countries to provide a safe place – a ‘sanctuary’ – for people in trouble with the law.  It was intended to give shelter for people who were innocent, weak or misunderstood.  Dragging people out of the sanctuary was a very serious offence, punished with whipping, heavy fines, expulsion from the Church or even death.  Sanctuaries as shelters for people accused of crime were finally done away with in England in 1697.  But you can still see evidence in some churches and cathedrals today.  For example, in Durham Cathedral there is a large door knocker – the sanctuary knocker – used by people who wanted sanctuary. (1) (2)

Eye for an eye

Another law to see that no one took an unjust revenge was the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  That is to say, if people injured someone on purpose, then as a punishment they were made to suffer the same injury themselves.  So the law ran, “…eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (NRSV, Exodus 21:24,25) (Matthew 5:38).