Joshua 20:5

5 And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, they will not hand over the killer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and {he did not hate him previously}.

Joshua 20:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 20:5

And if the avenger of blood pursue after him
To the city of refuge, whither he is fled, and demand him:

then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hands;
to be slain by him, but shall protect him:

because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not
beforetime; (See Gill on Numbers 35:22), (See Gill on Numbers 35:23), and (See Gill on Deuteronomy 19:6).

Joshua 20:5 In-Context

3 Anyone who kills a person by accident or unintentionally may flee there; they will be for yourselves a refuge from the avenger of blood.

4 The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them.

5 And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, they will not hand over the killer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and {he did not hate him previously}.

6 The killer will stay in that city until he stands before the congregation for the trial, until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then {the killer will return} to his city and to his house, to the city from which he fled.'"

7 So {they set apart} Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that [is], Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "he did not hate him since yesterday and the day before that"