Deuteronomy 19:1-10
New English Translation
Laws Concerning Manslaughter
19 When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he[a] is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and houses, 2 you must set apart for yourselves three cities[b] in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession. 3 You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent[c] of your land that the Lord your God is providing as your inheritance; anyone who kills another person should flee to the closest of these cities. 4 Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live,[d] if he has accidentally killed another[e] without hating him at the time of the accident.[f] 5 Suppose he goes with someone else[g] to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax[h] to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose[i] from the handle and strikes[j] his fellow worker[k] so hard that he dies. The person responsible[l] may then flee to one of these cities to save himself.[m] 6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him,[n] and kill him,[o] though this is not a capital case[p] since he did not hate him at the time of the accident. 7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities. 8 If the Lord your God enlarges your borders as he promised your ancestors[q] and gives you all the land he pledged to them,[r] 9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments[s] I am giving[t] you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities[u] to these three. 10 You must not shed innocent blood[v] in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty.[w]
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- Deuteronomy 19:1 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
- Deuteronomy 19:2 sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).
- Deuteronomy 19:3 tn Heb “border.”
- Deuteronomy 19:4 tn Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
- Deuteronomy 19:4 tn Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
- Deuteronomy 19:4 tn Heb “yesterday and a third (day)” (likewise in v. 6). The point is that there was no animosity between the two parties at the time of the accident and therefore no motive for the killing. Cf. NAB “had previously borne no malice”; NRSV “had not been at enmity before.”
- Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
- Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
- Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
- Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “finds.”
- Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
- Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “and live.”
- Deuteronomy 19:6 tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
- Deuteronomy 19:6 tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
- Deuteronomy 19:6 tn Heb “no judgment of death.”
- Deuteronomy 19:8 tn Heb “fathers.”
- Deuteronomy 19:8 tn Heb “he said to give to your ancestors.” The pronoun has been used in the translation instead for stylistic reasons.
- Deuteronomy 19:9 tn Heb “all this commandment.” This refers here to the entire covenant agreement of the Book of Deuteronomy as encapsulated in the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).
- Deuteronomy 19:9 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
- Deuteronomy 19:9 sn You will add three more cities. Since these are alluded to nowhere else and thus were probably never added, this must be a provision for other cities of refuge should they be needed (cf. v. 8). See P. C. Craigie, Deuteronomy (NICOT), 267.
- Deuteronomy 19:10 tn Heb “innocent blood must not be shed.” The Hebrew phrase דָּם נָקִי (dam naqi) means the blood of a person to whom no culpability or responsibility adheres because what he did was without malice aforethought (HALOT 224 s.v דָּם 4.b).
- Deuteronomy 19:10 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
Deuteronomy 19:1-10
New Living Translation
Cities of Refuge
19 “When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he is giving you, you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes. 2 Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 3 Survey the territory,[a] and divide the land the Lord your God is giving you into three districts, with one of these cities in each district. Then anyone who has killed someone can flee to one of the cities of refuge for safety.
4 “If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety. 5 For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood. And suppose one of them swings an ax to chop down a tree, and the ax head flies off the handle, killing the other person. In such cases, the slayer may flee to one of the cities of refuge to live in safety.
6 “If the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too far, an enraged avenger might be able to chase down and kill the person who caused the death. Then the slayer would die unfairly, since he had never shown hostility toward the person who died. 7 That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.
8 “And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised them, 9 you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all the commands I have given you—if you always love the Lord your God and walk in his ways.) 10 That way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. You will not be held responsible for the death of innocent people.
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- 19:3 Or Keep the roads in good repair.
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