Manslayer

Manslayer in the Mosaic law designates one who has killed another person accidentally — without prior malice or intent — as distinguished from a murderer who kills deliberately. The distinction is fundamental to the law's treatment of homicide in Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19: the manslayer was entitled to seek refuge in one of the six designated cities of refuge (three east of the Jordan, three west), where he would be protected from the goel ha-dam (the avenger of blood, the nearest male relative of the deceased) until his case was tried by the congregation.

If the congregation determined the killing was accidental, the manslayer remained in the city of refuge until the death of the current high priest, after which he could return home safely (Numbers 35:22–28). If he left the city of refuge before the high priest's death and the avenger found and killed him, the avenger was not guilty of blood — the manslayer was responsible for his own death by leaving the place of protection. Joshua 20:1–9 records the designation of the six cities of refuge in fulfillment of Moses's command. The distinction between manslaughter and murder anticipates modern legal concepts of degrees of culpability, grounding them in the covenant community's obligation to value human life while acknowledging the difference between accident and intent.