The provision: the same noun is used at the beginning of 15.2. It indicates what is to be done. So we may translate “This is what you must do [or, This is the rule] in the case of someone who….”

The manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life: this is rather complex. New International Version has “This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Here is an example of how someone may save his life by fleeing to them.” Another possibility is “This is the rule about a person who kills another person and flees to one of these towns in order to save his [or her] life.” What follows deals with the case of the person who is legally allowed to flee to one of these towns and thus avoid being killed.

If any one kills his neighbor unintentionally: here neighbor means simply “another person” (New Revised Standard Version), or, more precisely, a fellow-Israelite; it does not indicate someone who lives next door. The Hebrew verb is literally “to strike” or “to hit,” here meaning to kill.

Unintentionally: that is, accidentally, without meaning to.

Without having been at enmity with him in the past: this is stated in order to further remove the possibility of murder.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .