Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben
“The LORD also spake unto Joshua, telling him to speak to the children of Israel, saying, “Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not before time. And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled. And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.” (Joshua 20:1-9 KJV).
Bezer is in the wilderness, in the plain country; its name means “inaccessible”.
“Unto the rest of the children of Merari were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Rimmon with her suburbs, Tabor with her suburbs: And on the other side Jordan by Jericho, on the east side of Jordan, were given them out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness with her suburbs, and Jahzah with her suburbs, Kedemoth also with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs: And out of the tribe of Gad; Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, and Mahanaim with her suburbs, And Heshbon with her suburbs, and Jazer with her suburbs.” (1 Chronicles 6:77-81 KJV)
Bezer is on the east side of Jordan belonging to the Reubenites. (Deuteronomy 4:43 KJV). The city refuge of Bezer was set aside as a city for the Levites, and to the children of Merari, from the tribe of the Levites. (Joshua 21:36 KJV). The walled city in Transjordan was given out of the tribe of Reuben as a designated city which includs the wilderness with her suburbs on the east side of Jordan by Jericho. (1 Chronicles 6:63; 77-78 KJV).
Bezar may be a variant spelling of Bozrah in (Jeremiah 48:24 KJV).
According to the Moabite (Mesha) Stone, Mesha, king of Moab around 830 B.C., said he rebuilt Bezer as the Moabite city Umm el-Amad, which is eight miles northeast of Medeba. Although the location and identity of ancient Bezer is uncertain Umm el-Amad, 12 km. Northeast of Madaba, and Tell Jalul, 5 km. East of Madaba, have been suggested. (Myers. 1987. p.147).
There were 48 towns allocated to the tribe of Levi, which were divided from all the tribal territories with more taken from the large ones than the small ones. The six cities of refuge designated from these 48 towns allowed for someone who had accidentally taken a life to flee from punishment of death and reparation by a family avenger. As long as the manslayer remained within the city limits under the control of God’s high priest. When the high priest died, the murder accomplished by the manslayer was probably remitted, since he was free to leave the city once the priest was no longer living. (Deuteronomy 4:41-45 KJV).
Reference:
Myers, Allen C. (1987).The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI. Eerdmans.
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MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Mar 2016.<https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=3039,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2016, March) “Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from ,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2016) “Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (March), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=3039, (accessed).
