When the Torah commands the establishment of cities of refuge in
Eretz Yisra'el to protect accidental murderers from vengeful
relatives it states that the three cities must be evenly placed
(וְשִׁלַּשְׁתָּ) to maximize the population's access to them. A
couple sentences later it says that when the borders of the land
are expanded, three more cities should be added to this set of
three. When the borders did expand, were the original three
repositioned to maximize their centralization in the larger
area? When the Jews conquered Canaan, they were effectively
fulfilling God's promise as described in Devarim 7:1 by the
destruction of the seven nations listed there. However, in His
promise to Avraham, ten nations are specified (Bereshis
16:19-21). Traditionally, the extra three nations' demise are
believed to be referring not to the time of Yehoshua's
conquering of the land, but to the Messianic era. Ramban
believes that this is what is meant by "ואם ירחיב יהוה אלהיך את
גבלך כאשר נשבע לאבתיך", that is, the conqueri