The Criminal Code of the Jews: According to the Talmud Book

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This is an OCR edition with typos.
Excerpt from book:
CHAPTER IX. CITIES OF REFUGE—THE PUNISHMENT FOR PERJURY— FLOGGING. Homicide by misadventure—that is, the accidental killing of a fellow-man—entailed upon the offender the penalty of internment in a city of refuge. The slaying of a neighbour by mischance was not, however, regarded as a crime properly so-called; nor does the Talmud consider the penalty thereby incurred in the light of a punishment. The Pentateuch, in common with all ancient legal systems, recognised the right of private vengeance in cases of murder and manslaughter. The family, relatives, and connections of the deceased could slay the culprit, wherever discovered. But most nations arranged the matter satisfactorily by a pecuniary payment. The Athenians, for example, placed the nego- tiations for this purpose in the hands of the Ephetes. This was a progressive step. The Mosaic code went further. It abolished the blood-money altogether; but this left the offender at the mercy of those who were entitled to avenge the death. Recollecting probably his own misadventure with the Egyptian whom he accidentally slew, and his compulsory flight in consequence, Moses provided in his legislative scheme for the establishment of cities of refuge. To these the Hebrew who by mischance killed his neighbour was permitted to proceed. Here he was in safety—secure from the vengeance of the Go'el hadam, the ' redeemer of the blood.' The arrangement was, therefore, rather in the nature of a privilege than a punishment. Internment in one of the cities of refuge was not the scampering process depicted in the popular engraving : a man in the last stage of exhaustion at the gate of an Eastern town ; his pursuers close upon him, arrows fixed and bows drawn; his arms stretched imploringlytowards a fair Jewish damsel with pitcher grace...