but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.
Parallel Translations
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but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.
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And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
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And if a man lie not in wait, but God cause it to come to hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he may flee.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Exodus 21:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 20:2-9 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses, that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them. If the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver up the man slayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him before. He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then the man slayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.’ ” They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the alien who lives among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.
- 1 Samuel 24:18 You have declared today how you have dealt well with me, because when Yahweh had delivered me up into your hand, you didn’t kill me.
- Deuteronomy 4:41-43 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally and didn’t hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live: Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
- Deuteronomy 19:1-13 When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess. You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there. This is the case of the man slayer who shall flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him in time past— as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live. Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally, even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past. Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves. If Yahweh your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers; and if you keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk ever in his ways, then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three. This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you. But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities; then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you.
- 1 Samuel 24:4 David’s men said to him, “Behold, the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ ” Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe secretly.
- 1 Samuel 24:10 Behold, today your eyes have seen how Yahweh had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some urged me to kill you; but I spared you; and I said, I will not stretch out my hand against my lord; for he is Yahweh’s anointed.
- Numbers 35:10-34 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. The cities shall be for your refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the foreigner living among them, shall these six cities be for refuge, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. “ ‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died, or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. “ ‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. “ ‘But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession. “ ‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. “ ‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies. “ ‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death. “ ‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. “ ‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, Yahweh, dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”
- 2 Samuel 16:10 The king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because Yahweh has said to him, ‘Curse David;’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”
- Isaiah 10:7 However he doesn’t mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.
- Micah 7:2 The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Though a man be killed at unawares, yet it…
Though a man be killed at unawares, yet it is God’s providence that it should so be.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 21:13 And if a man lie not in…
Exo 21:13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver [him] into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
Ver. 13. But God deliver him.] Who is the Lord of our lives, and to whom we have frequently forfeited them; so that it is his mercy that we are not consumed; {Lam 3:22} that we are not cut off from the land of the living.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If it appear that the manslayer did not intend…
If it appear that the manslayer did not intend nor desire it, but only it fell out by his heedlessness, or by some casualty, or by some unexpected providence; or, God, and not man, God without the man’s contrivance or design; for otherwise, in a general sense and way, God delivered Christ into the hands of Judas and the Jews, who did advisedly and maliciously kill him.
A place whither he shall flee, i.e. a city or place of refuge, Num 35:11; Deu 19:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And if a man lie not in wait,.... For…
And if a man lie not in wait,.... For the life of another to take it away; or does not do it willingly, as the Septuagint version, does not seek after it, nor design it:
but God delivers him into his hand; it being suffered and ordered by the providence of God, without whose knowledge and will nothing comes to pass, even what may seem to be a contingent thing, or matter of chance, to us; or it is so brought about in providence, that one man falls into the hands of another, and his life is taken away by him, though not purposely and maliciously; because, as Aben Ezra expresses it, for another sin which he has committed, and for which he must die in this way, though not intended by the person the more immediate cause of his death:
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then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee; and there be safe both from the avenger of blood, and the civil magistrate; which place, while Israel were in the wilderness, was the camp of the Levites, according to Jarchi, or the altar, as follows; but when they were come to Canaan's land, there were cities of refuge appointed for such persons, that killed a man unawares, to flee to, and where they were safe from private vengeance, and falling a sacrifice to public justice.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. I will appoint thee a place whither…
Verse 13. I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.] From the earliest times the nearest akin had a right to revenge the murder of his relation, and as this right was universally acknowledged, no law was ever made on the subject; but as this might be abused, and a person who had killed another accidentally, having had no previous malice against him, might be put to death by the avenger of blood, as the nearest kinsman was termed, therefore God provided the cities of refuge to which the accidental manslayer might flee till the affair was inquired into, and settled by the civil magistrate.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain There was no place of safety for the guilty…
There was no place of safety for the guilty murderer, not even the altar of Yahweh. Thus all superstitious notions connected with the right of sanctuary were excluded. Adonijah and Joab 1Ki 1:50; 1Ki 2:28 appear to have vainly trusted that the common feeling would protect them, if they took hold of the horns of the altar on which atonement with blood was made Lev 4:7. But for one who killed a man “at unawares,” that is, without intending to do it, the law afterward appointed places of refuge, Num. 35:6-34; Deu 4:41-43; Deu 19:2-10; Jos 20:2-9. It is very probable that there was some provision answering to the cities of refuge, that may have been based upon old usage, in the camp in the Wilderness.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain God. When a person was slain undesignedly, the Providence…
God. When a person was slain undesignedly, the Providence of God was to be adored in silence, as nothing happens without his permission. (Haydock) See Numbers xxv. 6.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Lie not in wait — That is, intending…
13. Lie not in wait — That is, intending to take life, and planning, like a hunter, to insure the death of his victim.
But God deliver him into his hand — As when one is slain by the accidental blow not intended for him, as in the case supposed in Deu_19:5. Such unintentional homicide could not justly be treated as the crime of murder.
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A place whither he shall flee — Such “cities of refuge” were afterward appointed. See Num_35:9-15, and parallels.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. Manslaughter, and the right of asylum. The distinction,…
13. Manslaughter, and the right of asylum. The distinction, not found in Homer, but thus early drawn among the Hebrews, between intentional and unintentional homicide is noteworthy: it is insisted on in all the codes (Deu_19:1-13; Num_35:9-34 P).
lie … in wait] 1Sa_24:11 (RVm.)†: cf. the derivative, ‘with lying in wait’ (i.e. with malicious intent), in P’s law of homicide, Num_35:20; Num_35:22 (‘without’)†. In Dt. and D2[187] the idea of ‘unintentional’ is expressed by unawares (lit. without knowledge), Deu_4:42; Deu_19:4, Jos_20:3; Jos_20:5; P says unwittingly (lit. in error), Num_35:11; Num_35:15, Jos_20:3; Jos_20:9.
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[187] Deuteronomic passages in Josh., Jud., Kings.
deliver] in the Heb. a rare word, meaning properly, as Arabic shews, bring opportunely (cf. the derivative opportunity, Jdg_14:4). The meaning of the clause is (as we should express it), if he kills him accidentally. Cf. Ḥamm. § 249 ‘if God have struck it (a hired ox), and it die,’ 266 ‘a stroke of God’ (killing a sheep), below, p. 423.
a place whither he shall flee] i.e. an asylum where he may be safe from the avenger of blood. V. 14, which speaks of the fugitive as having taken refuge at an altar, shews that the place meant can only be the sacred place at which the altar stood. In the later legislation of Dt. (Deu_19:1-13) fixed cities are appointed for the purpose and regulations for their use are laid down. The technical term, ‘cities of refuge,’ first occurs in P (Num_35:6; Num_35:11 ff.). In ancient times ‘the right of asylum was possessed by different sanctuaries in various degrees, depending on prescription, the holiness of the place, and other circumstances; it sometimes extended to an entire city, or even to a mark beyond its walls.… In the Greek period, and later (under Roman rule), many Hellenistic cities in Syria enjoyed the privileges of asylums, the title ἄσυλος appearing on their coins’ (Moore, in EB. Asylum). Cf. Rel. Sem. 148. Moslems, adhering to the tradition of heathen times, treat tombs, esp. those of ancestors, notabilities, and saints, as asylums.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) If a man lie not in wait, but…
(13) If a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand.—If, that is, without malice aforethought, a man happen upon his enemy, God’s providence bringing the two into contact without man’s contrivance, and the result is that one slay the other, then the law of the refuge or asylum shall come in. A place is to be provided whither the man-slayer may flee, and where he may be safe, at any rate until the cause is inquired into. Hitherto, throughout the East, it had been regarded as the duty of the next of kin to avenge homicide of whatever kind, and blood had been exacted for blood, however sudden, however provoked, however excusable had been the homicide. No right of asylum, so far as we know, had ever been established before. The Sinaitic legislation for the first time interposed the “city of refuge,” between the “avenger of blood” and his victim. It was for the elders of the city to see that the privilege was not abused. Where the case was doubtful, the man-slayer had to be remitted for trial to the elders of his own town (Num_35:22-25); where the elders considered his claim made out, he was entitled to protection.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain God deliver him into his hand. This does not…
God deliver him into his hand. This does not seem to mean more than, "if he chance upon him without seeking him." God"s providence does in fact bring about the meetings which men call accidental. I will appoint thee a place . When we first hear of the actual appointment, the number of the places was six three on either side of Jordan. (see Jos_20:7, Jos_20:8; and compare Num_35:10-15, and Deu_19:2) Thus there was always a city of refuge at a reasonable distance.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.