When someone had carelessly but non-maliciously killed someone, then God’s Old Testament law made provision for him to escape capital punishment, whilst not trivialising the killing. There was no expensive prison infrastructure. So banishing someone within the land of Israel to a city of refuge was a practical humane solution. This was not condoning manslaughter; [...]
Answers about killing
You also say: Why did God allow the Gibeonites to put to death seven of Saul’s sons? Were they participants in killing the Gibeonites? Also David seems to have only spared Mephibosheth only because he made an oath, and not for the fact that he was only five years old and did not participate in [...]
A Christian author once wrote the following, which may be useful to start this answer with: The question is sometimes asked: “What would you do if you saw someone attacking a member of your family?” A simple answer to this question is by no means easy. Shield the person attacked? Restrain the attacker, using as [...]
