These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them: Alter (page 861) interprets the stranger and … the sojourner as a hendiadys (in which a single idea is expressed by two phrases joined by a conjunction, where the one phrase qualifies the other). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh follows this interpretation by saying “the resident aliens,” and so does Reina-Valera Contemporánea with “the foreigners” (see the comments on 9.14). It is difficult to make a distinction between the stranger and the sojourner. Good News Translation tries to keep a distinction by saying “foreigners who are temporary or permanent residents.” Other models that keep the distinction are “the resident or transient alien” (New Revised Standard Version), “the immigrants and the temporary residents” (La Nouvelle Bible Segond), and “the immigrant and the passing guest” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). In any case, we advise translators to express the holistic intention of this phrase, which Bible en français courant has done by rendering for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them as “Every person, Israelite, foreigner, or passing guest among the Israelites” (similarly Parole de Vie). Compare also New International Version with “for Israelites, aliens and any other people living among them.” In some languages it will be more natural to render among them as “among you” (La Nouvelle Bible Segond, Chewa; similarly SPCL), since the pronoun them refers to the Israelites whom the LORD is addressing.

That any one who kills any person without intent may flee there: See verse 11.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .