What is "cities of refuge"

Refuge \Ref"uge\ (r?f"?j), n. [F. r['e]fuge, L. refugium, fr. refugere to flee back; pref. re- + figere. SEe Fugitive.]

1. Shelter or protection from danger or distress.

   Rocks, dens, and caves! But I in none of these Find place or refuge.
   --Milton.

   We might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.
   --Heb. vi. 18.

2. That which shelters or protects from danger, or from distress or calamity; a stronghold which protects by its strength, or a sanctuary which secures safety by its sacredness; a place inaccessible to an enemy.

   The high hills are a refuger the wild goats.
   --Ps. civ. 18.

   The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed.
   --Ps. ix. 9.

3. An expedient to secure protection or defense; a device or contrivance.

   Their latest refuge Was to send him.
   --Shak.

   Light must be supplied, among gracefulrefuges, by terracing ??? story in danger of darkness.
   --Sir H. Wotton.

   Cities of refuge (Jewish Antiq.), certain cities appointed as places of safe refuge for persons who had committed homicide without design. Of these there were three on each side of Jordan.
   --Josh. xx.

   House of refuge, a charitable institution for giving shelter and protection to the homeless, destitute, or tempted.

   Syn: Shelter; asylum; retreat; covert.

The Cities of Refuge were six Levitical towns in the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah in which the perpetrators of manslaughter could claim the right of asylum; outside of these cities, blood vengeance against such perpetrators was allowed by law. The Torah names the six cities as being cities of refuge: Golan, Ramoth, and Bosor, on the east of the Jordan River, and Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the western side.