Deuteronomy 19:4

4 This is the rule for someone who kills another person and runs to one of these cities in order to save his life. But the person must have killed a neighbor without meaning to, not out of hatred.

Deuteronomy 19:4 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 19:4

And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither,
that he may live
It was not any slayer that might have protection in these cities, but such who were thus and thus circumstanced, or whose case was as follows:

whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly;
without intention, as the Targum of Jonathan, did not design it, but was done by him unawares:

whom he hated not in time past;
had never shown by words or deeds that he had any hatred of him or enmity to him three days ago; so that if there were no marks of hatred, or proofs of it three days before this happened, it was reckoned an accidental thing, and not done on purpose, as this phrase is usually interpreted; see ( Exodus 21:29 ) .

Deuteronomy 19:4 In-Context

2 Then choose three cities in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.

3 Build roads to these cities, and divide the land the Lord is giving you into three parts so that someone who kills another person may run to these cities.

4 This is the rule for someone who kills another person and runs to one of these cities in order to save his life. But the person must have killed a neighbor without meaning to, not out of hatred.

5 For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood and swings an ax to cut down a tree. If the ax head flies off the handle, hitting and killing the neighbor, the one who killed him may run to one of these cities to save his life.

6 Otherwise, the dead person's relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer might be angry and chase him. If the city is far away, the relative might catch and kill the person, even though he should not be killed because there was no intent to kill his neighbor.