The cities of refuge ( ‘ārê ha-miqlāṭ) were six Levitical towns in the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah in which the perpetrators of accidental manslaughter could claim the right of asylum. Maimonides, invoking talmudic literature, expands the city of refuge count to all 48 Levitical cities. Outside of these cities, blood vengeance against such perpetrators was allowed by law. The Bible names the six cities as being cities of refuge: Golan, Ramoth, and Bosor, on the east (left bank) of the Jordan River, and Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron on the western (right) side. Biblical regulations In Numbers In the Book of Numbers, the laws concerning the cities of refuge state that, once he had claimed asylum, a perpetrator had to be taken from the city and put on trial; if the trial found that the perpetrator was innocent of murder, then the perpetrator had to be returned under guard (for their own protection) to the city in which they had claimed asylum. This law code treats blood money as an unacceptable device that would compound the crime, insisting that atonement can only be made by the murderer's blood. Numbers states that no harm was allowed to come to the perpetrator once the Jewish high priest had died, at which point the perpetrator was free to leave the city without fear. In Deuteronomy In the setting of the Book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites have conquered several kingdoms on the east side of the Jordan river, and are about to enter the land of Canaan. At this point, Moses separated three cities of refuge on the east side. Later on, it is prescribed that three cities of refuge be set aside in Canaan once it is conquered, with three additional cities to be set aside 'if the Lord your God enlarges your territory'. Thus, the total number of cities could be as high as nine. Albert Barnes stated that the additional three cities allowed for "the anticipated enlargement of the borders of Israel to the utmost limits promised by God, from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates" () and the King James Version refers in to the enlargement of the coast of the promised land. While the Book of Numbers describes the perpetrator being put on trial, Deuteronomy merely states that if the perpetrator is guilty of murder, the elders of the town in which the crime was