Joshua 20:3
That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
Joshua 20:3 in other translations
| BSB | so that anyone who kills another unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood. |
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| WEB | that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. |
| ASV | that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly and unawares may flee thither: and they shall be unto you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. |
| YLT | for the fleeing thither of a man-slayer smiting life inadvertently, without knowledge; and they have been to you for a refuge from the redeemer of blood. |
| DARBY | that the slayer who unwittingly without intent smiteth any one mortally may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. |
| BBE | So that any man who in error and without design has taken the life of another, may go in flight to them: and they will be safe places for you from him who has the right of punishment for blood. |
| Webster | That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and ignorantly, may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. |
What does Joshua 20:3 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 20:1-3
Jos 20:1-6. The Lord Commands the Cities of Refuge. 1-3. The Lord spake unto Joshua ... Appoint out for you cities of refuge--(See Nu 35:9-28; De 19:1-13). The command here recorded was given on their going to occupy their allotted settlements. The sanctuaries were not temples or altars, as in other countries, but inhabited cities; and the design was not to screen criminals, but only to afford the homicide…
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joshua 20:1-6
When the Israelites were settled in their promised inheritance, they were reminded to set apart the cities of refuge, whose use and typical meaning have been explained, Nu 35; De 19. God's spiritual Israel have, and shall have in Christ and heaven, not only rest to repose in, but refuge to secure themselves in. These cities were designed to typify the relief which the gospel provides for penitent sinners, and their…
Joshua 20:3 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Context
- Joshua 20:2
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
- Joshua 20:3
That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
- Joshua 20:4
And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
Joshua 20:3 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Para que se acoja allí el homicida que matare á alguno por yerro y no á sabiendas; que os sean por acogimiento del cercano del muerto. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | afin que l’homicide qui, par mégarde, aura frappé à mort quelqu’un sans le savoir, s’y enfuie; et elles vous serviront de refuge devant le vengeur du sang. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | daß dahin fliehe ein Totschläger, der jemand aus Versehen, unabsichtlich, erschlagen hat; und sie seien euch zur Zuflucht vor dem Bluträcher. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | ut confugiat ad eas quicumque animam percusserit nescius, et possit evadere iram proximi, qui ultor est sanguinis: |