That the slayer that kills any person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
All Commentaries on Joshua 20:3 Go To Joshua 20
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Of blood, and authorized to kill the manslayer, (Menochius) if he find him out of one of these cities. See Numbers xxxv. 6., and Deuteronomy xix. 4. Revenge was never lawful: but to prosecute offenders in the courts of justice, (Calmet) or agreeably to the law of God, can never deserve blame. (Haydock)
If some of the saints of the old law seem to have taken delight in revenge, their expressions must be explained in a favourable sense. David, who is accused of this crime, (Calmet) repels the charge with horror, Psalm vii. 5. The evils which he denounces to his adversaries, were predictions of what they had reason to expect, Psalm lvii. 11., and Jeremias xi. 20. (Haydock)
If some of the Jews looked upon vengeance as lawful, it cannot be a matter of surprise, when we reflect that even some, who have been taught the mild law of the gospel, think themselves bound, in some cases, to revenge an affront. (Calmet)
So far have the maxims of the world supplanted Christianity in their breasts! How severely does Jacob rebuke his children for what they had done to the Sichemites, though they falsely thought that the affront offered to their sister, would justify them! (Genesis xxxiv.) (Haydock)
