Bezer was a
Levitical city
In the Hebrew Bible, the Levitical cities were 48 cities in ancient Israel set aside for the tribe of Levi, who were not allocated their own territorial land when the Israelites entered the Promised Land.
Numbers 35:1-8 relates God's command to ...
in the desert plateau east of
the Jordan, and of
Hebron
Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...
, originally a resting place for travelers. It was designated by
Moses as a '
city of refuge', a “safe-haven” for
Reubenites and others, to which any person guilty of
manslaughter could flee to avoid being killed in vengeance.
The site of Bezer "cannot be located with certainty," although several sites have been proposed.
The Bible seldom mentions Bezer, but it explains the town's purpose as a refuge in , , (The usual, dutiful repetition - “to be a city of refuge for the slayer” - that follows the names of the other five cities of refuge, is actually omitted for Bezer in this verse in some translations.), and .
Cities of refuge were necessary because the
next of kin of a manslaughter victim had a right under the
Law of Moses to seek compensation - in kind - for blood shed by the perpetrator.
The law of Moses provided that anyone accused of homicide could flee to a city of refuge, to be protected from the victim's family. Once he was there, a manslaughterer was prohibited from leaving until the
high priest had died or until his own death, even if the victim's family had forgiven them.
References
{{reflist
Levitical cities