Comentario sobre Deuteronómio 19:6

פן ירדף גאל הדם LEST THE AVENGER OF THE BLOOD PURSUE [THE SLAYER] — therefore I tell you to prepare the way for you and [to prepare] many cities of refuge.

פן ירדוף, these words refer back to the need to establish three such cities as outlined in verse 2. If there were to be only one such city of refuge, the avenger in his pursuit would be more likely to succeed.

This is why I am instructing you to ready [the route], etc. Rashi means as follows: The verse seems to be saying, “He is to flee to one of these cities to survive, lest the blood-redeemer pursue etc.” But how will it help to flee? The blood-redeemer might still pursue him until the refuge city and catch him [before he reaches it] since his heart is heated? Therefore Rashi explains that this phrase is not connected with the adjacent “he is to flee, etc.” but to (v. 3) above where it is written, “Ready the route for yourself and divide the borders of your land into three sections,” which means that one must write “refuge,” “refuge” at every fork in the road and also, that one needs three refuge cities. Why? The verse explains, “Lest the blood-redeemer pursue, etc.” But now that there are many refuge cities and there it also written “refuge” at every fork in the road, the murderer can easily be saved so that the blood-redeemer will be unable to overtake him.

והכהו נפש, “and strike him fatally;” there is a word missing in this phrase, i.e. the word מכת “a blow;”.

ולו אין משפט מות, “while he was not deserving of the death penalty;” this teaches that even an intentional killer who has not been sentenced to death by the court (for some technical reason connected to the evidence presumably) may still be subject to death at the hands of the blood avenger.