Deuteronomy 4:42

to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities:

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite assembly east of the Jordan, finalizing legal and territorial provisions before they cross into Canaan. He designates three eastern cities to function as immediate asylum points for those accused of homicide.

The words — רוֹצֵחַ (ro.Tze.ach) denotes a killer or manslayer, while יִרְצַח (yir.Tzach) specifies the act of killing. The text pairs these with בְּלִי (v.li) to explicitly exclude prior malice from the charge.

The thread — This decree operationalizes the refuge system first detailed in Numbers 35:6, 35:11, and 35:15. Those passages establish the same six-city framework for Israel and resident foreigners.

Why it lands — It requires distinguishing intentional murder from accidental death and recognizing that immediate asylum is mandated to prevent vigilante justice before a legal determination. The text demands adherence to procedural boundaries over emotional retaliation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:

Cross-references

Numbers 35:6 Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.
Numbers 35:11 designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.
Numbers 35:15 These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
Deuteronomy 19:1 When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their cities and houses,
Hebrews 6:18 Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.