Exodus 21:13
in Exodus 21If, 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
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.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 21
Commentary
7 notes on this verseFor there was a command under the law that cities of refuge should be appointed, in order that they who were sought after to be put to death might at least have some means of saving themselves. And when he who spoke to Moses, the Word of the Father, appeared in the end of the world, he also gave this commandment, saying, "But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another."
This site's exposition
Whoever strikes and kills a man
on Exodus 21:12-14
The law separates the man who lies in wait from the killer whose deed God allowed to happen. It promises the second “a place where he may flee”, which becomes the cities of refuge at Numbers 35:9 to 35:34 and Joshua 20.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Even the person who unwittingly committed a murder was still within the ministry of God, since the law makes this statement regarding him: "God delivered him into his hands." His hands therefore served as an instrument of divine punishment. The Levite is then the minister who remits, whereas the man who (in the example just cited) unwittingly and unwillingly struck another in a homicidal act became in fact an administrator of divine punishment. See to it that Christ is infused into the act of slaying an impious man and that sanctification accompany and be part of your attempt to abolish what is abominable.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And if a man lie not in wait,....
With us, who know no avengers of blood but the magistrates, the law itself is a sufficient sanctuary for those whose minds are innocent, though their hands are guilty, and there needs no other.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
There was no place of safety for the guilty murderer, not even the altar of Yahweh. Thus all superstitious notions connected with the right of sanctuary were excluded. Adonijah and Joab 1Ki 1:50; 1Ki 2:28 appear to have vainly trusted that the common feeling would protect them, if they took hold of the horns of the altar on which atonement with blood was made Lev 4:7. But for one who killed a man “at unawares,” that is, without intending to do it, the law afterward appointed places of refuge, Num. 35:6-34; Deu 4:41-43; Deu 19:2-10; Jos 20:2-
I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee - From the earliest times the nearest akin had a right to revenge the murder of his relation, and as this right was universally acknowledged, no law was ever made on the subject; but as this might be abused, and a person who had killed another accidentally, having had no previous malice against him, might be put to death by the avenger of blood, as the nearest kinsman was termed, therefore God provided the cities of refuge to which the accidental manslayer might flee till the affair was inquired into, and settled by the civil magistrate.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
To slay him. With guile. is to be understood as if written, and slew him with guile.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲשֶׁר֙ | vaasher | and that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| צָדָ֔ה | tzadah | he was lying in wait | H6658 → | |
| וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖ים | vehaelohim | and <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אִנָּ֣ה | ʾinah | he allowed to happen | H579 → | |
| לְיָד֑וֹ | leyado | to hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְשַׂמְתִּ֤י | vesamti | and I will designate | H7760 → | 584 times |
| לְךָ֙ | lekha | for <the> you | ||
| מָק֔וֹם | makom | a place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָנ֖וּס | yanus | he will flee | H5127 → | 159 times |
| שָֽׁמָּה׃ ס | shamah | there <towards> | H8033 → | 834 times |
וַאֲשֶׁר֙and that
vaasherH834 →5497 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
צָדָ֔הhe was lying in wait
tzadahH6658 →
וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖יםand <the> God
vehaelohimH430 →2601 times
אִנָּ֣הhe allowed to happen
ʾinahH579 →
לְיָד֑וֹto hand his
leyadoH3027 →1618 times
וְשַׂמְתִּ֤יand I will designate
vesamtiH7760 →584 times
לְךָ֙for <the> you
lekha
מָק֔וֹםa place
makomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָנ֖וּסhe will flee
yanusH5127 →159 times
שָֽׁמָּה׃ סthere <towards>
shamahH8033 →834 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 24:4So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 24:10
Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 26:23
May the LORD repay every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. For the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 26:8–11
Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to…
- 1 Samuel 25:28–30
Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you…
- 1 Samuel 23:7
When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”
- 1 Samuel 24:10
Through
1 Samuel 24:10Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 24:4
So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you…
- Psalms 105:15
“Do not touch My anointed ones! Do no harm to My prophets!”
- 1 Samuel 26:8–9
Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to…
- 1 Samuel 24:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies9
On this verse
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, CAIN AND ABEL 2.4.15; Athanasius of Alexandria, DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT 11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.