And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.
There shall be six cities ... for the manslayer. These were sacred cities, as inhabited by the Levitical order, who acted as moral guardians, and presided along with the elders in the inferior tribunals in those cities to which men charged with homicide fled for an asylum. The establishment of those privileged sanctuaries among the cities of the Levites is probably traceable to the idea that they would be the most suitable and impartial judges; that their presence and counsels might calm or restrain the stormy passions of the blood-avenger; and that, from their being invested with the sacred character, they might be types of Christ, in whom sinners find a refuge from the destroyer (see Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8).