Joshua 20:3

3 Anyone who kills a person by accident can run there for safety. So can anyone who kills a person without meaning to. The one who is charged with murder will be kept safe from the nearest male relative of the person who was killed.

Joshua 20:3 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 20:3

That the slayer that killeth [any] person unawares, [and]
unwittingly, may flee thither
Who through mere accident, and without design, killed a person, friend or foe, one of his own kindred, or a stranger, without any malice against him, or intention to take away his life:

and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood;
from any of the relations of the deceased, who might be stirred up to avenge the blood of his kinsman on the slayer; see ( Numbers 35:12 ) .

Joshua 20:3 In-Context

1 Then the LORD spoke to Joshua. He said,

2 "Tell the people of Israel to choose the cities to go to for safety, just as I directed you through Moses.

3 Anyone who kills a person by accident can run there for safety. So can anyone who kills a person without meaning to. The one who is charged with murder will be kept safe from the nearest male relative of the person who was killed.

4 "Suppose the one who is charged runs for safety to one of those cities. Then he must stand in the entrance of the city gate. He must state his case in front of the elders of that city. They must let him come into their city. They must give him a place to live there.

5 "Suppose the nearest male relative of the person who was killed comes after him. Then the elders must not hand him over to that relative. That's because he didn't mean to kill his neighbor. He didn't make evil plans to do it.