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
American Standard Version
19 When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; 2 thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it. 3 Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which Jehovah thy God causeth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee thither.
4 And this is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee thither and live: whoso killeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past; 5 as when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the [a]head slippeth from [b]the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he dieth; he shall flee unto one of these cities and live: 6 lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. 7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee. 8 And if Jehovah thy God enlarge thy border, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; 9 if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three: 10 that [c]innocent blood be not shed in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
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- Deuteronomy 19:5 Hebrew iron.
- Deuteronomy 19:5 Or, the tree
- Deuteronomy 19:10 Or, the blood of an innocent man
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