JOS 20:5 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Now if a relative of the deceased comes to avenge the death, the city elders won’t hand over the killer because the death was accidental and didn’t happen because of hate or premeditation.

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, then they shall not deliver the one having killed into his hand. For without knowledge he struck his neighbor, and he was not hating him from yesterday or the third day.

UST Suppose some relative of the dead person comes to that city to try to take revenge by killing the person who fled. The leaders of that city must not allow the relative to take him away and kill him, because what happened was accidental. He did not hate that person in the past.

OEB and if the next of kin comes in pursuit, they must not hand the killer over, because they killed their neighbour by accident, having had no feud with them previously.

WEBBE If the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver up the man slayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbour unintentionally, and didn’t hate him before.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET When the avenger of blood comes after him, they must not hand over to him the one who committed manslaughter, for he accidentally killed his fellow man without premeditation.

LSV And when the redeemer of blood pursues after him, then they do not shut up the manslayer into his hand, for he has struck his neighbor without knowledge, and is not hating him until now;

FBV If the one seeking revenge comes looking for the man, they must not hand the one who committed manslaughter over to him, because he killed someone unintentionally and without deliberate hatred.

T4T If some relative of the one who was killed comes to that city to get revenge, the leaders of that city must not allow the relative to take the killer, because what happened was accidental. He did not hate that person and as a result deliberately kill him.

LEB And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, they will not hand over the killer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and _⌊he did not hate him previously_⌋.[fn]

20:5 Literally “he did not hate him since yesterday and the day before that”

BBE And if the one who has the right of punishment comes after him, they are not to give the taker of life up to him; because he was the cause of his neighbour's death without designing it and not in hate.

Moff and if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not hand the homicide over, because he killed his neighbour by accident, having had no feud with him previously.

JPS And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unawares, and hated him not beforetime.

ASV And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand; because he smote his neighbor unawares, and hated him not beforetime.

DRA And when the avenger of blood shall pursue him, they shall not deliver him into his hands, because he slew his neighbour unawares, and is not proved to have been his enemy two or three days before.

YLT 'And when the redeemer of blood doth pursue after him, then they do not shut up the man-slayer into his hand, for without knowledge he hath smitten his neighbour, and is not hating him hitherto;

Drby And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; for he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not previously.

RV And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unawares, and hated him not beforetime.

SLT And if the nearest relation of blood shall pursue after him, and they shall not deliver over the slayer into his hand; for without knowing he smote his friend, and he hated him not from yesterday the third day.

Wbstr And if the avenger of blood shall pursue him, then they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand; because he smote his neighbor ignorantly, and had not hated him before.

KJB-1769 And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime.

KJB-1611 And if the auenger of blood pursue after him, then they shal not deliuer the slayer vp into his hand: because hee smote his neighbour vnwittingly, and hated him not beforetime.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And if the auenger of blood folow after him, they shall not deliuer the slear into his hand: because he smote his friend ignorauntly, and hated him not before tyme.
(And if the avenger of blood follow after him, they shall not deliver the slear into his hand: because he smote his friend ignorantly, and hated him not before time.)

Gnva And if the auenger of blood pursue after him, they shall not deliuer the slaier into his hand because hee smote his neighbour ignorantly, neither hated he him before time:
(And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, they shall not deliver the slaier into his hand because he smote his neighbour ignorantly, neither hated he him before time: )

Cvdl And yf the auenger of bloude folowe vpon him, they shall not delyuer the deedslayer in to his handes, for so moch as he hath slayne his neghboure vnawarres, and was not his enemye afore:
(And if the avenger of blood follow upon him, they shall not deliver the deedslayer in to his hands, for so much as he hath/has slain/killed his neighbour unawares, and was not his enemy afore:)

Wycl And whanne the vengere of blood pursueth hym, thei schulen not bitake hym in to the hondis of the vengere; for vnwityngli he killide his neiybore, and is not preued his enemy bifor the secounde dai ethir the thridde dai.
(And when the vengere of blood pursueth him, they should not betake/give/grant him in to the hands of the vengere; for unwityngli he killed his neighbour, and is not proved his enemy before the second day either the third day.)

Luth Und wenn der Bluträcher ihm nachjagt, sollen sie den Totschläger nicht in seine Hände übergeben, weil er unwissend seinen Nächsten geschlagen hat und ist ihm zuvor nicht feind gewesen.
(And when the/of_the blood-avenger him chases, should they/she/them the murderer not in his hands hand-over/transfer, because he ignorant his neighbour beaten has and is him before not fined been.)

ClVg Cumque ultor sanguinis eum fuerit persecutus, non tradent in manus ejus: quia ignorans percussit proximum ejus, nec ante biduum triduumve ejus probatur inimicus.
(And_when ultor blood him has_been persecuted, not/no tradent in/into/on hands his: because ignorans he_struck next_door his, but_not before two_days triduumve his approved the_enemy. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section: 20:1–9 Joshua set apart towns of refuge so that people could run to them and be safe

20:5a

Now if the avenger of blood pursues him,

If the relative who wants to kill him chases after him
And if the relative who wants to get revenge follows after the killer,

Now: The Hebrew conjunction that the BSB translates as Now can also be translated “but” to indicate contrast. It is not a time word. Choose the word that is most natural in this context. Some English versions do not translate this word.

if: The Hebrew conjunction that the BSB translates as if can also be translated as “when.” Choose the conjunction that is most natural in your language.

the avenger of blood: The term avenger of blood was first mentioned in 20:3b. You should translate it the same way here.

pursues him: The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as pursues can also be translated as “chases” or “follows.”

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

But if the relative of the person who died chases after the person who killed him

But if the relative of the dead person follows after the killer

20:5b

they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand,

the elders must not hand him over to that relative.
the town leaders must not give him up.

they: The pronoun they refers to the elders of the town.

must not surrender the manslayer into his hand: The clause must not surrender the manslayer into his hand means that the elders must protect the manslayer (the person who killed someone) from the person who is trying to get revenge. They must not hand him over to that person.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

the elders must not hand over the killer to the person trying to avenge the dead man

the town leaders must not give up the person who killed to the relative

20:5c

because that man killed his neighbor accidentally

They must protect him because he has killed his neighbor without intending it.
They must do this because he killed the other person without planning to do it,

because that man killed his neighbor accidentally: The clause that man killed his neighbor accidentally indicates the reason why the person who killed should be protected from his pursuer.

his neighbor: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as neighbor can also be translated “friend,” “companion” or “other one.” In this context it refers to a fellow human being.

accidentally: The word accidentally means that the killer did not plan to kill. This is the same Hebrew word as in verse 20:3.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

They must protect him because he has killed his fellow man without intending it.

They must do this because he killed the other person without planning to do it.

20:5d

without prior malice.

He had not hated him in the past.
and not because he was angry with him in past times.

without prior malice: The Hebrew clause that the BSB translates as without prior malice is more literally “and not hating him from yesterday three days ago.” The phrase “from yesterday three days ago” is a Hebrew idiom that means “in the past.”

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

He had not hated him in the past.

and not because he was angry with him in the past

General Comment on verse 20:5

In the Hebrew and in the BSB verse 5 is a long sentence. It may be more natural in some languages to divide it into more than one sentence. For example:

But if the one who is chasing him follows him to that town, the leaders of the city must not hand over the killer. It was an accident. He did not hate him beforehand or kill him on purpose. (NCV)

Parallel JOS 20:5

Section: 20:1–9 Joshua set apart towns of refuge so that people could run to them and be safe

20:5a

20:5b

20:5c

20:5d

General Comment on verse 20:5

Tribal Allotments of the Promised Land