Exodus 21:13

God deliver him. Literally, “if God let him fall.” This indicates only that God had permitted the dead man to fall unexpectedly into the hand of one slaying him, without the slayer’s deliberate lying “in wait” to do so.

Appoint thee a place. For a man to come unexpectedly upon his enemy and slay him was not considered murder, but manslaughter or justifiable homicide. For this there was no specific legal penalty. He was left to the simple, rude justice of established custom, the retribution of “the avenger of blood” (Num. 35:12; Deut. 19:6, 12). This law did not alter the general Eastern practice of either taking life for life or giving a financial compensation. The law of Moses placed between “the avenger of blood,” or next of kin, and his victim the opportunity for the latter to reach a place of asylum. This was to be in one of the six “cities of refuge,” where he could be safe until his case was heard before the men of his own city (Num. 35:9-28; Deut. 19:1-13; Joshua 20).

Laws should always combine mercy with justice. If too severe, laws defeat their own purpose, since their very severity makes it unlikely that they will be carried out. The moral consciousness of the people revolts against them. When forgery was a capital offense in England, for instance, juries could not be secured to convict men of this crime. Legal enactments must be in accordance with the conscience of the community, or they will cease to command respect. Good men will break them, courts will hesitate to enforce obedience to them, and wise legislators will ever seek to change them to harmonize with the best moral sentiment of the community.