Exodus 21:13

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
wait	צָדָ֔ה tza.Dah	H6658	to chase · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
God	וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖ים ve.ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
deliver	אִנָּ֣ה 'i.Nah	H579	to approach · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hand	לְיָד֑וֹ le.ya.Do	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
appoint	וְשַׂמְתִּ֤י ve.sam.Ti	H7760	to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
place	מָק֔וֹם ma.Kom	H4725	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
flee	יָנ֖וּס ya.Nus	H5127	to flit · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Joshua 20:2-9 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
1 Samuel 24:18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou kille…
Deuteronomy 4:41-43 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
Deuteronomy 19:1-13 When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cit…
1 Samuel 24:4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, tha…
1 Samuel 24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: bu…
Numbers 35:10-34 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
2 Samuel 16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who s…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 21:12-21

Here is, I. A law concerning murder. He had lately said, Thou shalt not kill; here he provides, 1. For the punishing of wilful murder (Exo 21:12): He that smiteth a man, whether upon a sudden passion or in malice prepense, so that he die, the government must take care that the murderer be put to death, according to that ancient law (Gen 9:6), Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. God, who by his providence gives and maintains life, thus by his law protects it; so that mercy shown to a wilful murderer is real cruelty to all mankind besides: such a one, God here says, shall be taken even from his altar (Exo 21:14), to which he might flee for protection; and, if God will n…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 21:7

LAWS FOR MAIDSERVANTS. (Exo. 21:7-36) if a man sell his daughter--Hebrew girls might be redeemed for a reasonable sum. But in the event of her parents or friends being unable to pay the redemption money, her owner was not at liberty to sell her elsewhere. Should she have been betrothed to him or his son, and either change their minds, a maintenance must be provided for her suitable to her condition as his intended wife, or her freedom instantly granted.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 21:13

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.

John Gill on Exodus 21:13

And if a man lie not in wait,.... For the life of another to take it away; or does not do it willingly, as the Septuagint version, does not seek after it, nor design it: but God delivers him into his hand; it being suffered and ordered by the providence of God, without whose knowledge and will nothing comes to pass, even what may seem to be a contingent thing, or matter of chance, to us; or it is so brought about in providence, that one man falls into the hands of another, and his life is taken away by him, though not purposely and maliciously; because, as Aben Ezra expresses it, for another sin which he has committed, and for which he must die in this way, though not intended by the person…

The Church Fathers

For 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."
— Athanasius of Alexandria, DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT 11

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.
— Ambrose of Milan, CAIN AND ABEL 2.4.15

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Avenger of blood — (Heb. goel, from verb gaal, “to be near of kin,” “to redeem”), the nearest relative of a murdered person. It was his right and duty to slay the murderer (2 Sam. 14:7, 11) if he found him outside of a…
City — The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain (Gen. 4:17). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12). Next, we have…
Concubine — In the Bible denotes a female conjugally united to a man, but in a relation inferior to that of a wife. Among the early Jews, from various causes, the difference between a wife and a concubine was…
Crucifixion — A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Cities Of Refuge · Design of — Design of
Homicide · ACCI — ACCI
Refuge · .From the avenger of bloo — .From the avenger of bloo

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 21:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 21:12-21

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 21:7

Adam Clarke on Exodus 21:13

John Gill on Exodus 21:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 21:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 21:12-21

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 21:7

Adam Clarke on Exodus 21:13

John Gill on Exodus 21:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 21:12-14

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 21:12-17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 21:12-17

Rashi on Exodus 21:13