Deuteronomy 4:42

42 that the slayer might flee thither, who should have slain his neighbour unintentionally, and should not have hated him in times past, and he shall flee to one of these cities and live:

Deuteronomy 4:42 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:42

That the slayer might flee thither
For refuge; the slayer of a man, but not any slayer, but

which should kill his neighbour unawares;
by accident to him, without any design and intention to kill him; ignorantly, as the Septuagint version; and so Onkelos:

and hated him not in times past;
it having never appeared that there had been a quarrel between them, and that the slayer had shown any enmity to the man slain any time before the fact, or bore a grudge against him, or spite unto him:

and that, fleeing unto one of these cities, he might live;
in peace and safety unto his own death, or unto the death of the high priest, when he was released from his confinement to the city of his refuge, and might return to his tribe, house, family, and possessions.

Deuteronomy 4:42 In-Context

40 And keep ye his commandments, and his ordinances, all that I command you this day; that it may be well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, that ye may be long-lived upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for ever.

41 Then Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan on the east,

42 that the slayer might flee thither, who should have slain his neighbour unintentionally, and should not have hated him in times past, and he shall flee to one of these cities and live:

43 Bosor in the wilderness, in the plain country of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad Gad, and Gaulon in Basan Manasse.

44 This the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.

Footnotes

• [a]. before yesterday and the third day.