Joshua 20:5

And if the avenger of blood pursue after him,.... To the city of refuge, whither he is fled, and demand him:

then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hands; to be slain by him, but shall protect him:

because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime; Numbers 35:22,

Numbers 35:23, and

Deuteronomy 19:6.