And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, [and] until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.
Ver. 6. Until he stand before the congregation for judgment.] Until his cause be tried, and the truth bolted out, that he may be cleared or doomed by the judges, with the assent of the people, whose voice should be Currat lex, fiat iustitia, ruat orbis.
Until the death of the high priest.] So long he shall live; in exile howsoever, because he should have looked better to it, there having been some heedlessness in the business. Besides, the high priest was amongst men the chief god upon earth, and so the offence did chiefly strike against him: lest, therefore, such an offender should happen to come into his presence, he might not be at liberty till the high priest's death. Philo saith that the high priest was not to behold at any time any mournful object. Similarly among the Romans, Tiberius, counterfeiting grief for the death of Drusus, had a veil laid betwixt the dead and him at the funeral, that he might not see the body; because, forsooth, the high priest is a sacred thing, and the devil loveth to be God's ape. See on Numbers 35:25 .