Deuteronomy 19:11

Green's Literal Translation

And if a man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and rises up against him, and strikes his life from him, so that he dies, and flees to one of these cities,

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
"But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities,

Update Bible Version
But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and rises up against him, and smites him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities;

English Revised Version
But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die; and he flee into one of these cities:

New Century Version
But if a person hates his neighbor and, after hiding and waiting, attacks and kills him and then runs to one of these cities for safety,

New English Translation
However, suppose a person hates someone else and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, and then flees to one of these cities.

Webster's Bible Translation
But if any man shall hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally, that he dieth, and he shall flee into one of these cities:

World English Bible
But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and strike him mortally so that he dies, and he flee into one of these cities;

Amplified Bible
"But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait and ambush for him and attacks him and strikes him down so that he dies, and the assailant escapes to one of these cities,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe if ony man hatith his neiybore, and settith aspies, `ether tresouns, to his lijf, and risith, and smytith him, and he is deed, and he fleeth to oon of the forseid citees,

Young's Literal Translation
`And when a man is hating his neighbour, and hath lain in wait for him, and risen against him, and smitten him -- the life, and he hath died, and he hath fled unto one of these cities,

Berean Standard Bible
If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,

Contemporary English Version
But what if you really do commit murder? Suppose one of you hates a neighbor. So you wait in a deserted place, kill the neighbor, and run to a Safe Town.

American Standard Version
But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally so that he dieth, and he flee into one of these cities;

Bible in Basic English
But if any man has hate for his neighbour, and waiting for him secretly makes an attack on him and gives him a blow causing his death, and then goes in flight to one of these towns;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But and if any man hate his neyghbour, and lay awayte for hym, and ryse agaynst hym, and smyte hym that he die, & then fleeth vnto any of these cities:

Complete Jewish Bible
"However, if someone hates his fellow member of the community, lies in wait for him, attacks him, strikes him a death blow, and then flees into one of these cities;

Darby Translation
But if a man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and he flee into one of these cities,

Easy-to-Read Version
"But suppose there is a man who hates his neighbor. That man might hide and wait to kill the person he hates. If he kills that person and runs to one of these cities of safety,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die; and he flee into one of these cities;

King James Version (1611)
But if any man hate his neighbour and lie in wait for him, and rise vp against him, and smite him mortally that hee die, and fleeth into one of these Cities:

New Life Bible
"But there might be a man who hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, goes against him, and hurts him so that he dies. After this he might run to one of these cities.

New Revised Standard
But if someone at enmity with another lies in wait and attacks and takes the life of that person, and flees into one of these cities,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, when any man shall be hating his neighbour, and shall lie in wait for him and rise up against him, and smite him so as to take away his life that he dieth, - and shall then flee into one of these cities,

Geneva Bible (1587)
But if a man hate his neighbour, and lay waite for him, and rise against him, and smite any man that he die, and flee vnto any of these cities,

George Lamsa Translation
But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and attack him, and smite him mortally so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities;

Good News Translation
"But suppose you deliberately murder your enemy in cold blood and then escape to one of those cities for protection.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wait for his life, and rise and strike him, and he die, and he flee to one of the cities aforesaid,

Revised Standard Version
"But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and attacks him, and wounds him mortally so that he dies, and the man flees into one of these cities,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But if there should be in thee a man hating his neighbour, and he should lay wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him, that he die, and he should flee to one of these cities,

Christian Standard Bible®
But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in ambush for him, attacks him, and strikes him fatally, and flees to one of these cities,

Hebrew Names Version
But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and strike him mortally so that he dies, and he flee into one of these cities;

King James Version
But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:

Lexham English Bible
But if someone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and murders him, and the murderer flees to one of these cities,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But yf eny man beare hate agaynst his neghboure, and layeth waite for him, and ryseth agaynst him, and smyteth him that he dye, and flyeth in to one of these cities,

THE MESSAGE
On the other hand, if a man with a history of hatred toward his neighbor waits in ambush, then jumps him, mauls and kills him, and then runs to one of these cities, that's a different story. The elders of his own city are to send for him and have him brought back. They are to hand him over to the avenger of blood for execution. Don't feel sorry for him. Clean out the pollution of wrongful murder from Israel so that you'll be able to live well and breathe clean air.

New American Standard Bible
"But if there is a person who hates his neighbor, and waits in ambush for him and rises up against him and strikes him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,

New King James Version
"But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,

New Living Translation
"But suppose someone is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders him and then flees to one of the cities of refuge.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,

Legacy Standard Bible
"But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes down his life so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,

Contextual Overview

¹ When Jehovah your God shall cut off the nations whose land Jehovah your God is giving to you, and when you dispossess them, and live in their cities, and in their houses, ² you shall separate three cities for you in the midst of your land, which Jehovah your God is giving you to possess it. ³ You shall prepare the way for yourself, and shall divide into three parts the border of your land which Jehovah your God shall cause you to inherit, so that every manslayer may flee there. ⁴ And this is the case of the manslayer who shall flee there, that he may live: whoever strikes his neighbor unawares, and has not hated him yesterday and the day before; ⁵ even he who goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand brings a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips from the wood and finds his neighbor so that he dies; he shall flee to one of these cities, and shall live; ⁶ that the avenger of blood not pursue the manslayer when his heart is hot, and shall overtake him because the way is long, and shall strike him so as to die, and he had no sentence of death, for he did not hate him yesterday or the day before. ⁷ On account of this I am commanding you, saying, You shall separate to yourself three cities. ⁸ And if Jehovah your God shall enlarge your border, as He has sworn to your fathers, and shall give to you all the land which He has spoken to give to your fathers, ⁹ if you will keep these commandments which I am commanding you today, to love Jehovah your God, and to walk in His ways forever, then you shall add to yourself another three cities to these three. ¹⁰ And innocent blood shall not be shed in the midst of your land, which Jehovah your God is giving to you as an inheritance, and there be blood on you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

But if any: Deuteronomy 27:24, Genesis 9:6, Exodus 21:12-14, Numbers 35:16-21, Numbers 35:24, Proverbs 28:17

mortally: Heb. in life

Reciprocal: Exodus 20:13 - General Exodus 21:13 - lie not Exodus 21:14 - presumptuously Leviticus 24:17 - And he Numbers 35:12 - until he stand Numbers 35:20 - by laying Numbers 35:31 - Moreover Deuteronomy 17:8 - between blood

Cross-References

Genesis 19:28
And he looked toward the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain. And he saw. And, behold, the smoke of the country went up like the smoke of a furnace.

Genesis 19:29
And it happened when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham; and He sent Lot out from the overthrow when overturning the cities in which Lot lived.

2 Kings 6:18
And they came down to it, and Elisha prayed to Jehovah and said, I beg You, strike this nation with blindness. And He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.

Ecclesiastes 10:15
The labor of fools wearies him, because he does not know how to go to the city.

Isaiah 57:10
You were wearied in the length of your way; you did not say, Despair! You found the life of your hand, so you were not sick.

Jeremiah 2:36
Why do you go about so much to change your way? You also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

Acts 13:11
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun until a time. And instantly a mist and darkness fell on him, and going about he sought some to lead him by the hand.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But if any man hate his neighbour,.... Has conceived enmity in his heart against him, bears him a mortal hatred, and has formed a scheme in his mind to take away his life:

and lie in wait for him knowing and expecting he will come by in such a way at such a time:

and rise up against him; out of the place where he lay in wait, just at the time he is passing by:

and smite him mortally that he die; or smite him

in soul or life z; in such a part where life is in danger, and the consequence of it is that he dies:

and fleeth into one of these cities; for shelter from the avenger of blood.

z נפש, "anima", Montanus, Vatablus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This and the next two chapters contain enactments designed to protect human life, and to impress its sanctity on Israel.

In Deuteronomy 19:1-13 the directions respecting the preparation of the roads to the cities of refuge, the provision of additional cities in case of an extension of territory, and the intervention of the elders as representing the congregation, are unique to Deuteronomy and supplementary to the laws on the same subject given in the earlier books (compare the marginal reference).

Deuteronomy 19:1, Deuteronomy 19:2

The three cities of refuge for the district east of Jordan had been already named. Moses now directs that when the territory on the west of Jordan had been conquered, a like allotment of three other cities in it should be made. This was accordingly done; compare Joshua 20:1 ff,

Deuteronomy 19:3

Thou shalt prepare thee a way - It was the duty of the Senate to repair the roads that led to the cities of refuge annually, and remove every obstruction. No hillock was left, no river over which there was not a bridge; and the road was at least 32 cubits broad. At cross-roads there were posts bearing the words Refuge, Refuge, to guide the fugitive in his flight. It seems as if in Isaiah 40:3 ff the imagery were borrowed from the preparation of the ways to the cities of refuge.

Deuteronomy 19:5

With the axe - literally, “with the iron.” Note the employment of iron for tools, and compare Deuteronomy 3:11 note.

Deuteronomy 19:8, Deuteronomy 19:9

Provision is here made for the anticipated enlargement of the borders of Israel to the utmost limits promised by God, from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18, note; Exodus 23:31, note). This promise, owing to the sins of the people, did not receive its fulfillment until after David had conquered the Philistines, Syrians, etc.; and this but a transient one, for many of the conquered peoples regained independence on the dissolution of Solomon’s empire.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 19:11. If any man hate his neighbour — Exodus 21:13.