Deuteronomy 19:12

12 then the leaders of his own town are to send and bring him back from there and hand him over to the next-of-kin avenger, to be put to death.

Deuteronomy 19:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 19:12

Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence,
&c.] The Targum of Jonathan is,

``the wise men of his city,''

the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, or at least the civil magistrates of that city, to which such a murderer belonged, had a power to send to the city of refuge whither he was fled, and demand the delivering of him up to them, that his case might be tried before them, and it might appear whether he was a proper person to receive the benefit of the city of refuge or not, and if not, to pass sentence of death upon him, and see it executed as follows:

and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die;
that is, after the examination and trial of him, and when he is found guilty, and sentence is passed upon him, then he was to be delivered into the hands of the avenger of blood, to be the executioner of that sentence.

Deuteronomy 19:12 In-Context

10 so that innocent blood will not be shed in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus blood guilt be on you.

11 "However, if someone hates his fellow member of the community, lies in wait for him, attacks him, strikes him a death blow, and then flees into one of these cities;

12 then the leaders of his own town are to send and bring him back from there and hand him over to the next-of-kin avenger, to be put to death.

13 You are not to pity him. Rather, you must put an end to the shedding of innocent blood in Isra'el. Then things will go well with you.

14 "You are not to move your neighbor's boundary marker from the place where people put it long ago, in the inheritance soon to be yours in the land ADONAI your God is giving you to possess.