^19:4Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live,⁴ if he has accidentally killed another⁵ without hating him at the time of the accident.⁶^19:5Suppose he goes with someone else⁷ to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax⁸ to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose⁹ from the handle and strikes¹⁰ his fellow worker¹¹ so hard that he dies. The person responsible¹² may then flee to one of these cities to save himself.¹³^19:6Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him,¹⁴ and kill him,¹⁵ though this is not a capital case¹⁶ since he did not hate him at the time of the accident.

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Footnotes

4 Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
5 Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
6 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. “had previously borne no malice”; “had not been at enmity before.”
7 Heb “his neighbor” (so , ); “his friend.”
8 Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
9 Heb “the iron slips off.”
10 Heb “finds.”
11 Heb “his neighbor.”
12 Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 Heb “and live.”
14 Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
15 Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
16 Heb “no judgment of death.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

This is the rule concerning anyone who kills a person and flees there for safety—anyone who kills a neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Here is the law concerning a case of someone who kills a person and flees there to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him: If, for example, he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings the ax to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, that person may flee to one of these cities and live. Otherwise, the avenger of blood in the heat of his anger might pursue the one who committed manslaughter, overtake him because the distance is great, and strike him dead. Yet he did not deserve to die, since he did not previously hate his neighbor.

NLTNew Living Translation

“If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety. 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.

“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.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live there who has killed his neighbor unintentionally, and he did not hate him previously. For example, when somebody goes with his neighbor into the forest to cut wood, and the iron head slips from the handle of the tool and strikes his neighbor and he dies, then he may flee to one of these cities, and so he may live. He does this lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because he is hot with anger and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance to the city of refuge, and so he kills him, but he did not deserve a death sentence, because he was not hating him before.

KJV 1900King James Version

And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live: Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

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