Numbers 35:24

35:24 then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions.

Deuteronomy 19:11-12

19:11 However, suppose a person hates someone else¹ and stalks him, attacks him, kills him,² and then flees to one of these cities. 19:12 The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger³ to die.

Joshua 20:4-6

20:4 The one who committed manslaughter⁴ should escape to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and present his case to the leaders of that city.⁵ They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there.⁶ 20:5 When the avenger of blood comes after him, they must not hand over to him the one who committed manslaughter, for he accidentally killed his fellow man without premeditation.⁷ 20:6 He must remain⁸ in that city until his case is decided by the assembly⁹ and the high priest dies.¹⁰ Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to the city from which he escaped.”¹¹

¹tn Heb “his neighbor.”

²tn Heb “rises against him and strikes him fatally.”

³tn The גֹאֵל הַדָּם (go’el haddam, “avenger of blood”) would ordinarily be a member of the victim’s family who, after due process of law, was invited to initiate the process of execution (cf. Num 35:16-28). See R. Hubbard, NIDOTTE 1:789-94.

⁴tn Heb “he”; the referent (the one who accidentally kills another, cf. v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵tn Heb “and speak into the ears of the elders of that city his words.”

⁶tn Heb “and they should gather him into the city to themselves, give to him a place, and he will live with them.”

⁷tn Heb “for without knowledge he killed his neighbor, and he was not hating him prior to that.”

⁸tn Or “live.”

⁹tn Heb “until he stands before the assembly for judgment.”

¹⁰tn Heb “until the death of the high priest who is in those days.”

¹¹tn Heb “may return and enter his city and his house, the city from which he escaped.”