Pisqa’ 180¹

1

You shall designate for yourself . . . three cities” (Dt.19:2)—

cities, but not fortresses;

cities, but not capitols;

cities, but not towns.²

 

“Designate for yourself” (Dt.19:2)—

but not for [gentile] others.³

 

“Within your Land” (Dt.19:2)—

but not along the border.⁴

“Which HASHEM your God is giving you to inherit” (Dt.19:2)—

you will have to conquer whatever you inherit.

2

“Prepare for yourself the way” (Dt.19:3)—

prepare for yourself highways that

lead straight to it.

 

“And tri-sect the boundary of your Land” (Dt.19:3)—

so that the [three cities] are not scattered,

but are aligned like two rows of a vineyard.⁵

 

“Which HASHEM your God is bequeathing to you” (Dt.19:3)—

this includes the trans-Jordanian territories

[of Gad, Reuben, and Menasseh].⁶

“So that any one who unwittingly kills [an innocent party]

might seek asylum there” (Dt.19:3)—

so that he needn’t be expelled from city to city.⁷

1. H: 204; JN2: 60.
2. //T. Mak.3:8; cf. Sifre Num, 159.
3. Cf. Pisqa’ 116.2
4. Cf. Sifre Num, 160.
5. Cf. T. Mak. 2:3, M. Mak.2:5.
6. Cf. Sifre Nu, 160 and Pisqa’ 164.1
7. Cf. Pisqa’ 183.2