Uno cuyo juicio se concluyó sin un sumo sacerdote, [es decir, si no hubiera un sumo sacerdote], uno que mata a un sumo sacerdote, y un sumo sacerdote que mata, nunca abandona (su ciudad de refugio), y ( uno que está exiliado) no sale ni por testimonio de mitzvá ni por testimonio en litigio monetario, ni por testimonio en un caso capital. Incluso si Israel lo necesitara; incluso si fuera un comandante en Israel, como Yoav ben Tzeruyah, nunca se va, está escrito (Números 35:25): "... que había huido allí"—allí estará su morada; allí morirá; Allí será enterrado. Así como la ciudad otorga refugio, también lo hace su tchum (su límite, dos mil codos alrededor de la ciudad). Un asesino que salió del tchum y fue encontrado por el redentor de sangre.—R. Yossi dice: Es una mitzvá para el redentor de sangre (matarlo), y a todos los demás se les permite hacerlo. R. Akiva dice: Al redentor de sangre se le permite hacerlo, y todos los demás no son responsables si lo hacen. [Todos los demás, aparte del redentor de sangre, que lo mató fuera de su ciudad de refugio, no son responsables, está escrito (Números 35:27): "No tiene sangre"; y al redentor de sangre se le permite matarlo (ab initio)]. Si un árbol se encuentra en medio de los límites (de la ciudad de refugio), y sus ramas se extienden fuera de los límites; o si se encuentra fuera de los límites y sus ramas se extienden dentro de los límites, todo va de acuerdo con las ramas. [La Gemara explica que "también según las ramas" es lo que se quiere decir, es decir, si su tronco estuviera dentro de los límites de la ciudad de refugio, y sus ramas se extiendan fuera de los límites, si él está debajo de las ramas, él está " absorbido ", ya que su parte principal está dentro, y sus ramas se consideran una extensión de la parte principal. Y si la parte principal está afuera, y las ramas, adentro, para que no pueda matarlo debajo de las ramas, tampoco puede matarlo cerca de la parte principal, considerándose la parte principal como una extensión de sus arcos por rigor ( a este respecto). Si mató dentro de esa ciudad, se exilia de un barrio a otro (dentro de esa ciudad). Un levita se exilia de una ciudad a otra.
Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
נגמר דינו בלא כהן גדול – for there was no High Priest in the world
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
Introduction
Mishnah seven continues to deal with various law concerning the cities of refuge.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
לא לעדות מצוה – for example, for testimony of the [New] Month
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If the trial was concluded when there was no high priest [in office], or if one kills a high priest, or a high priest that kills, [in these cases the manslayer] can never come away from that place [of refuge]. This section is a conclusion of the previous mishnah. If the trial of the manslayer is concluded at a time when there was no high priest he can never leave the city of refuge. Even when a new high priest is appointed, his death will not free the manslayer since he was not the high priest when the person was convicted of manslaughter. Similarly, one who kills a high priest or a high priest that kills can never leave the city of refuge, since there would be no existing high priest at the conclusion of the trial.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
וכל אדם – except for the blood-avenger that killed him outside the City of Refuge is not liable for him, as it is written (Numbers 35:27): “[and the blood avenger comes upon him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the blood-avenger kills the manslayer,] there is no bloodguilt on his account.” For the blood-avenger has the permission to kill him. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiba. And these words [of our Mishnah] is if he left [having murdered] with premeditation; but if he left [having murdered] inadvertently, every person who kills him is killed on his account.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
He [the manslayer] may not go out to bear witness, neither for cases having to do with a religious observance, nor to bear witness in a monetary suit, nor to bear witness in a capital case. Even should [all] Israel need him, and even a general like Yoav the son of Zeruiah, he may never go out, as it is said, “to there he fled”: ‘there’ must be his abode, ‘there’ his death, ‘there’ his burial. The manslayer may not leave the city of refuge under any circumstance, even to testify to a religious matter, such as the new month. Neither may he leave to testify in monetary cases nor in capital cases. Even if he was a general in the army and Israel needed him in war, he may not leave. The mishnah emphatically states that “there”, i.e. in the city of refuge will be his permanent dwelling, his death and his burial.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makkot
הכל הולך אחר הנוף – The Gemara explains that even the location of the branches decides the nature of the territory (see Mishnah Ma’aserot, Chapter 3, Mishnah 10) is spoken of, for if the root was inside the borders of the City of Refuge and the branches stretch outside the boundary, since he enters under the branch, he is “absorbed,” [by the City of Refuge] since its roots are inside and we judge that the branches follow after the roots, but if the roots were outside and the branches were inside, for just as within its branches, he cannot kill him, in its root also, he cannot kill him, for we cast the root after the branch for a stringency.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
Just as the city affords asylum so does its Sabbath boundary afford asylum. Just as the city proper offers the manslayer refuge from the blood avenger, so too does any area within the Sabbath limit (a boundary within which a person may freely travel on the Sabbath). This is defined as a 2000 amot perimeter of the city.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If a manslayer went beyond the boundary [of the city] and the blood avenger found him: Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: “For the avenger it is a matter of obligation [to kill him]; for everyone else, a matter of option.” Rabbi Akiba says: “It is a matter of option for the avenger, and anyone else [who kills him] is not liable for doing so.” If he does leave the city of refuge before the high priest dies, he is liable to be killed. According to Rabbi Yose the Galilean, the blood avenger is actually commanded to kill him and any other person is permitted to kill him. According to Rabbi Akiva the blood avenger may kill him, and other people may not. However, if other people do kill him they are not liable as murderers.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If a tree was standing within the boundary and its boughs extended beyond [the boundary] or if it was standing outside of the boundary and its boughs extended within, it wholly follows [the position of] the boughs. A tree standing in the city and leaning out of it, or standing outside of the city and leaning in, is judged to be in our out of the city boundaries based on its boughs and not on the position of its trunk. This will be of import if the manslayer reaches the tree and the blood avenger tries to kill him. If the tree is in the boundaries the blood avenger may not kill him but if it is outside of the boundaries, he may.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makkot
If he slew [someone] in that city [of refuge] he is banished from one neighborhood to another neighborhood. And a Levite is banished from one city to another. A person who accidentally kills someone in a city of refuge presents a legal problem since he is already in the place that protects people from the blood avenger. The mishnah remedies this problem by stating that he is to be exiled from neighborhood to neighborhood. A Levite who lives in a city of refuge (see Numbers 35:6) may not stay in the city if he accidentally kills someone. Rather he must go to a different city of refuge.
