The 20th century Reform Rabbi Gunther Plaut argued that the discussions of Cities of Refuge in and and were composed during a later, settled period, in order to accommodate the disappearance of local altars that previously served as places of refuge. Noting that provided that the person who had committed manslaughter would remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest, Plaut argued that only death could compensate for the loss of the victim's life, and thus the death of the High Priest became the symbol of communal expiation.