However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
Parallel translations
- WEB but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen: then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.
- KJV 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.
- BSB If, however, he did not lie in wait, but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
- NASB Yet if he did not lie in wait for him, but God caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee.
- NLT But if it was simply an accident permitted by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
For an unintentional killing that God allowed to happen, He would appoint a place of refuge. The law distinguished accident from murder and provided mercy.
Overview
God carefully separates accidental death from intentional murder, providing a place of asylum for the former (later the cities of refuge, Num. 35). This reflects justice tempered with mercy, weighing the heart's intent. These cities of refuge foreshadow Christ, the true refuge to whom sinners flee for safety (Heb. 6:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Josh 20:2–9“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,
- 1 Sam 24:18You 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.
- 1 Sam 24:4David’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.
- Deut 19:1–13When 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;
- 1 Sam 24:10Behold, 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.
- Deut 4:41–43Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;
- Num 35:10–34“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
- 2 Sam 16:10The 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?’”
- Mic 7:2The 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.
- Isa 10:7However 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.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 21:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.