Devarim 4:42

42 That the rotze’ach might flee thither, which should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these towns he might live:

Devarim 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.

Devarim 4:42 In-Context

40 Thou shalt be shomer over His chukkim, therefore, and His mitzvot, which I command thee today, that it may go well with thee, and with thy banim after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy yamim upon Ha’Aretz, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, kol hayamim.

41 Then Moshe separated and set apart three towns on this side of the Yarden toward the rising of the shemesh;

42 That the rotze’ach might flee thither, which should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these towns he might live:

43 Namely, Betzer in the midbar, in the flatland, of the Reuveni; and Ramot in Gil‘ad, of the Gadi; and Golan in Bashan, of the Menashi.

44 And this is the torah which Moshe set before the Bnei Yisroel;