Two matters are joined which appear to be separate: (1) the accused will be given a public trial; if found guilty, he is to be turned over to the avenging relative of the dead man (see Num 35.19); (2) if found innocent, he remains in the city until the death of the ruling High Priest (see Num 35.25, 28). After the High Priest’s death he is allowed to go back home.

Until he has received a public trial may need to be translated more specifically as “until he has been proven innocent in a public trial.” Inasmuch as two separate matters are here spoken of (see above comments), one may wish to begin a new sentence with the clause which begins and until: “Then he must remain in the city until the man who is High Priest at that time has died.”

Go back home translates “go again to his own town and his own home” (Revised Standard Version) of the Hebrew text. If both expressions are retained, they may be inverted: “to his family and to his own home town.” It may not be necessary to render explicitly the clause from which he had run away, since this information is clearly implicit.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .