The second chapter of our masssekhet deals with the laws concerning the cities of refuge. The cities of refuge (Hebrew: ערי המקלט ‘ārê ha-miqlāṭ) were six Levitical towns in the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah in which the perpetrators of accidental manslaughter could claim the right of asylum. Outside of these cities, blood vengeance against such perpetrators was allowed by law.[2] The Bible names the six cities of refuge as follows: Golan, Ramoth, and Bosor to the east (left bank) of the Jordan River;[3] and Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the western (right) side (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_of_Refuge#:~:text=The%20cities%20of%20refuge%20(Hebrew,claim%20the%20right%20of%20asylum.)
Daf TB Makkot 8 delineates only one of
the five case studies grants the accidental murder asylum in a city of refuge.
They are:
1, A victim
of circumstances beyond his control, ‘onuss
(אָנוּס). “One who threw a stone into the
public domain and killed a person is exiled. Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov
says: If after the stone left his hand the other person placed his head
out into the public domain and received a blow from the stone, he
is exempt, as when he cast the stone into the public domain there was no
one there” (Sefaria.org translation)
2, A person who should have taken a bit more
precaution, karov leshogag (קָרוֹב לְשׁוֹגֵג).
Examples of this would be: if one was
pulling a roller toward him and
it fell from his hands upon
a person and killed him, or if one was lifting a barrel and the rope was
severed and it fell upon a person and killed him. The worker was working against gravity so the accident is
not completely his fault. He is not entitled to flee to the city of refuge.
3, A person
who was negligent or irresponsible, shogag
(ְשׁוֹגֵג). An example would be “In the case of one
who threw the stone into his courtyard and killed a person, if the
victim had permission to enter into there, the murderer is exiled,”
(Sefaria.org translation) The owner of the courtyard should have made sure
there is nobody in his pushing before he threw the stone.
4, A person
who should have taken much more precaution, but did not intentionally murder, Karov lemayzeed (קָרוֹב
לְמֵזִיד).
Examples of this would be: if one was
pulling a roller downward away from him and it fell from his hands upon
a person and killed him, or if one was lowering a barrel and the rope was
severed and it fell upon a person and killed him. The murderer should have taken into consideration the
force of gravity, but didn’t. He acted in a more negligent or responsible way.
5, An
intentional murder, mayzeed (מֵזִיד). If convicted guilty of murder, the court
sentences him to death.
To sum up, a
victim of circumstances beyond his control is not punished at all. A shogag has to flee to the nearest city
of refuge. An intentional murder is put to death. The two in between cases the
accidental murder is not given the right to flee to a city of refuge because he
does not fit the exact definition of a shogag or a mayzeed.
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