Deuteronomy 19:7

7 Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall separate three cities for yourself.'

Deuteronomy 19:7 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 19:7

Wherefore I command thee, saying, thou shalt separate three
cities for thee.
] This was to be done immediately, as soon as they were settled in the land of Canaan, and established in the possession of it, the inhabitants being cut off, or driven out, or however subdued.

Deuteronomy 19:7 In-Context

5 as when a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies--he shall flee to one of these cities and live;

6 lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past.

7 Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall separate three cities for yourself.'

8 Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers,

9 and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three,