Question 1

What action does Joshua 20:7 say “they” did, and what does that action accomplish within the chapter?

Accepted Answer

The verse says “they set apart” three specific cities: Kedesh, Shechem, and Kiriath-arba (Hebron). Within Joshua 20, this functions as the move from instruction to implementation. The earlier context of refuge cities assumes a system where someone involved in an unintentional death can flee to a recognized location; verse 7 shows that the locations are not theoretical. The action accomplishes official identification: these are not just ordinary towns on the map, but known destinations connected to the refuge arrangement.

Question 2

List the three cities in Joshua 20:7 and explain how each is geographically described.

Accepted Answer

The three cities are Kedesh, Shechem, and Kiriath-arba (which the verse says is Hebron). Each is described with a location that includes both a regional tag and a tribal hill-country reference. Kedesh is “in Galilee” and in the hill-country of Naphtali. Shechem is in the hill-country of Ephraim. Kiriath-arba/Hebron is in the hill-country of Judah. The repeated pattern—city name plus territorial description—signals that the author wants the reader to know exactly where these places are.

Question 3

What does the repeated phrase “hill-country of” add to the meaning of the list?

Accepted Answer

Repeated “hill-country of” does more than describe elevation. It situates each refuge city inside a particular tribal region (Naphtali, Ephraim, Judah), making the list function like an administrative record tied to boundaries. It also implies that these cities are placed along the central highlands, a major travel spine through the land, which would make them findable. The verse’s interest is not in the cities’ stories, but in their stable, recognizable placement within Israel’s settled geography.

Question 4

Why does Joshua 20:7 include the note that Kiriath-arba is the same as Hebron?

Accepted Answer

The note prevents confusion. It tells the reader that two different names refer to the same city, so the refuge list can be matched with other passages that might use one name or the other. The verse itself does not explain the history behind the names; it simply equates them. In a text that is mapping land allotments and responsibilities, name equivalence matters because it affects identification—especially if a reader knows the city primarily as “Hebron” rather than “Kiriath-arba.”

Question 5

What pattern of distribution can be observed in the order of cities named in Joshua 20:7, and why might that matter?

Accepted Answer

The list appears to move from north to south: Kedesh in Naphtali (north), Shechem in Ephraim (central), and Hebron in Judah (south). While the verse does not state the reason, the pattern suggests wide coverage across the western land. Since refuge cities are meant to be reachable destinations, listing them in a geographic sweep underscores that they are not clustered in one area. Even though the verse is brief, the ordering and tribal framing communicate a structured, territory-wide arrangement rather than random selection.

Question 6

Based only on Joshua 20:7’s wording, what can and cannot be concluded about how “set apart” was carried out?

Accepted Answer

From the wording alone, it can be concluded that a recognized group (“they”) officially designated these towns for a special function connected to refuge. The text is explicit about which towns and where they are. What cannot be concluded from this single verse is the exact procedure: whether it involved a spoken proclamation, a formal ceremony, a physical boundary marker, or other steps. Those details, if known, would have to come from the broader refuge instructions and narrative context, not from verse 7 by itself.

Joshua 20:7

Scripture