Numbers 35:11

35:11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee.

Deuteronomy 4:41-43

The Narrative Concerning Cities of Refuge

4:41 Then Moses selected three cities in the Transjordan, toward the east. 4:42 Anyone who accidentally killed someone ¹  without hating him at the time of the accident ²  could flee to one of those cities and be safe. 4:43 These cities are Bezer, in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites.

Deuteronomy 19:1-3

Laws Concerning Manslaughter

19:1 When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he ³  is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and houses, 19:2 you must set apart for yourselves three cities ⁴  in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession. 19:3 You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent ⁵  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.

Deuteronomy 19:9

19:9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments ⁶  I am giving ⁷  you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities ⁸  to these three.

Joshua 20:2-9

20:2 “Have the Israelites select ⁹  the cities of refuge ¹⁰  that I told you about through Moses. 20:3 Anyone who accidentally kills someone can escape there; ¹¹  these cities will be a place of asylum from the avenger of blood. 20:4 The one who committed manslaughter ¹²  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. ¹³  They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there. ¹⁴  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. ¹⁵  20:6 He must remain ¹⁶  in that city until his case is decided by the assembly ¹⁷  and the high priest dies. ¹⁸  Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to the city from which he escaped.” ¹⁹ 

20:7 So they selected ²⁰  Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 20:8 Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho ²¹  they selected ²²  Bezer in the desert on the plain belonging to the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the tribe of Manasseh. 20:9 These were the cities of refuge ²³  appointed for all the Israelites and for resident foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally killed someone could escape there and not be executed by ²⁴  the avenger of blood, at least until his case was reviewed by the assembly. ²⁵ 

[4:42]  ¹ tn Heb “the slayer who slew his neighbor without knowledge.”

[4:42]  ² tn Heb “yesterday and a third (day).” 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.

[19:1]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[19:2]  ⁴ sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).

[19:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “border.”

[19:9]  ⁶ 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).

[19:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”

[19:9]  ⁸ 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.

[20:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘Set aside for yourselves.’”

[20:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “asylum.”

[20:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “so that the one who kills, taking life accidentally without knowledge, may flee there.”

[20:4]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the one who accidentally kills another, cf. v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “and speak into the ears of the elders of that city his words.”

[20:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they should gather him into the city to themselves, give to him a place, and he will live with them.”

[20:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for without knowledge he killed his neighbor, and he was not hating him prior to that.”

[20:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or “live.”

[20:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “until he stands before the assembly for judgment.”

[20:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “until the death of the high priest who is in those days.”

[20:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “may return and enter his city and his house, the city from which he escaped.”

[20:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “set apart.”

[20:8]  ²¹ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[20:8]  ²² tn Or “set aside.”

[20:9]  ²³ tn The Hebrew text reads simply “the cities.” The words “for refuge” are supplied for clarification.

[20:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and not die by the hand of.”

[20:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “until he stands before the assembly.” The words “at least” are supplied for clarification.