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א וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לֵאמֹר

The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying:

DISCUSSION

The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying

As mentioned both in the Torah and this chapter, there were three cities of refuge on the eastern side of the Jordan that had already been designated by Moses (see Deuteronomy 4:41–43). Now three additional cities were set aside within the land of Canaan. The Sages state that all the cities of refuge became active only when the ones in Canaan had been allocated (see Mishna Makkot 2:4). The phraseology of this verse, “The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,” is unique in the books of the prophets but appears regularly in the Torah when introducing God’s communications with Moses. This phraseology is used here in order to indicate that the ensuing command is the continuation of a commandment Moses had received and had even begun to fulfill himself (see Makkot 11a).

ב דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר תְּנוּ לָכֶם אֶת עָרֵי הַמִּקְלָט אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶם בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: Provide for yourselves the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you at the hand of Moses;

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