Joshua 20:3

That the slayer that killeth any person unawares In accordance with these regulations a wide distinction was made between the man who committed wilful murder, and one who slew another by mistake, in ignorance, and unintentionally. (a) In the former case the guilty criminal met with no compassion from the Mosaic Code. He was regarded as accursed. The horns of the altar were to be no refuge for him. He was to be dragged from them by force to suffer his doom, nor could rank or wealth exempt him from it (Numbers 35:31-32). (b) In the latter case, where life had been taken unawares, a more merciful system of legislation intervened. In contradistinction to the customs of the Greeks and Romans and even of the Middle Ages, which made places of sanctuary available to criminals of every kind, the Jewish Lawgiver reserved them for unintentional acts of murder, and for these alone. The distinguishing marks of such acts are clearly laid down in Numbers 35:25-34; Deuteronomy 19:4-6.

from the avenger of blood "that he moue ascaap the wrath of the neiзboure, that is wreker of the blood," Wyclif. The involuntary shedder of blood was permitted to take flight to a city of refuge.