Deuteronomy 19:6

6 lest the redeemer of blood pursue after the man-slayer when his heart is hot, and hath overtaken him (because the way is great), and hath smitten him -- the life, and he hath no sentence of death, for he is not hating him heretofore;

Deuteronomy 19:6 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 19:6

Lest the avenger of blood pursue the slayer
These words are to be connected with ( Deuteronomy 19:3 ) , where it is ordered to prepare the way to the cities of refuge, and to divide the land into three parts, for the convenience of the slayer to flee thither, lest he that was next of kin, and incensed against the slayer, and determined to avenge what was done, should pursue after him:

while his heart is hot;
by reason of the loss of his relation, upon which his passions being raised, his heart becomes inflamed with wrath and anger; which pushes him upon an eager and hasty pursuit of the slayer, before he sits down and coolly considers and deliberates on the affair:

and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him;
wherefore it was proper that everything should be done to make the way to these cities as easy and as short as it could be:

whereas he was not worthy of death;
had not committed an action deserving of it, it being done ignorantly and without notice, as follows:

inasmuch as he hated him not in time past;
(See Gill on Deuteronomy 19:4).

Deuteronomy 19:6 In-Context

4 `And this [is] the matter of the man-slayer who fleeth thither, and hath lived: He who smiteth his neighbour unknowingly, and is not hating him heretofore,

5 even he who cometh in with his neighbour into a forest to hew wood, and his hand hath driven with an axe to cut the tree, and the iron hath slipped from the wood, and hath met his neighbour, and he hath died -- he doth flee unto one of these cities, and hath lived,

6 lest the redeemer of blood pursue after the man-slayer when his heart is hot, and hath overtaken him (because the way is great), and hath smitten him -- the life, and he hath no sentence of death, for he is not hating him heretofore;

7 therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Three cities thou dost separate to thee.

8 `And if Jehovah thy God doth enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn to thy fathers, and hath given to thee all the land which He hath spoken to give to thy fathers --