“And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime.”
If the avenger of the blood pursues him, they shall not give the manslayer over to him, because he struck his neighbor without intent and had no enmity against him in the past — The city's protection operates against the avenger's private justice. The phrase 'without intent' (lōʾ biʿdyānāh) and 'no enmity in the past' emphasize the unintentional nature of the killing. The refuge city thus functions as an institution mediating between the kinship justice system and covenant law; it creates space for proportional, rational judgment rather than automatic blood-vengeance.
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