In those old times, when one man killed another, the friends of the dead man had the right to kill the murderer. But sometimes it happened that one person killed another without meaning to do it. Of course it was not right that he should be killed for what he could not help. God saw that there ought to be some way of saving him. So he told Joshua to name six cities to which such a person could flee and where no one could touch him. These cities were called Cities of Refuge. Three of them were on the west side of Jordan and three on the east. Some say that all the guide posts along the way had “Refuge!” “Refuge!” written on them.