9. What means of asylum was made for the unintentional manslayer?

⁹ To prevent this pollution of the land, and as an act of mercy, Jehovah required that cities be placed as an asylum in Israel where the unwitting manslayer could find a refuge from the avenger of blood.

These cities must be nearby and easily accessible, as stated in Deuteronomy 19:6: “Otherwise, the avenger of blood may, because his heart is hot, chase after the manslayer and actually overtake him, since the way is great; and he may indeed strike his soul fatally, whereas there is no sentence of death for him, because he was no hater of him formerly.”