Deuteronomy 19:12

12 The elders of his own city are to send for him and have him brought back. They are to hand him over to the avenger of blood for execution.

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 there is no chance of innocent blood being spilled in your land. God, your God, is giving you this land as an inheritance - you don't want to pollute it with innocent blood and bring bloodguilt upon yourselves.

11 On the other hand, if a man with a history of hatred toward his neighbor waits in ambush, then jumps him, mauls and kills him, and then runs to one of these cities, that's a different story.

12 The elders of his own city are to send for him and have him brought back. They are to hand him over to the avenger of blood for execution.

13 Don't feel sorry for him. Clean out the pollution of wrongful murder from Israel so that you'll be able to live well and breathe clean air.

14 Don't move your neighbor's boundary markers, the longstanding landmarks set up by your pioneer ancestors defining their property.