Bible Dictionary
ASYLUM
In ancient Israel, asylum was protection sought at the altar or in designated cities of refuge. These places protected a person from immediate vengeance until a homicide case could be properly judged, though deliberate murderers were not protected.
Definition
Asylum is protection sought in a sacred place or designated refuge. In ancient Israel it included refuge at the altar and refuge in cities of refuge.
Biblical Usage
The altar protected persons fleeing danger, though a murderer could be taken from it for execution. Cities of refuge protected a homicide until trial and sheltered one who had killed without murder.
Historical Background
The institution of cities of refuge was designed to restrain immediate vengeance by the avenger of blood while the case was properly judged.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>a-si'-lum: The custom of fleeing to specially sacred places to obtain the protection of a deity is found all over the world (Post, Grundriss, II, 252 ff). In ancient Israel we meet with it in two forms--the asylum of the altar and the asylum of the cities of refuge. The altar at the House of God was a place to which persons in danger fled for protection (1Ki 1:50; 2:28). It had horns and must not be confused with the altars of earth or stone that were used for lay sacrifices. See ALTAR; SANCTUARY. Ex 21:14 provides that a murderer is to be taken from the altar to be put to death. The law of the cities of refuge proceeds upon a somewhat different principle. Its objects are</p><p>(1) to shield a homicide from the avenger of blood until trial, and</p><p>(2) to provide a refuge for the manslayer who has not been guilty of murder. There is one reference to the institution in the history of the kingdom (2Sa 14:14). For the legal and geographical information, see CITIES OF REFUGE; HOMICIDE.</p><p>Harold M. Wiener</p>