NUM417 Some specific laws of the Torah distinguish sharply between intentional and unintentional acts. When there is evidence of intention such as prior enmity, lying in ambush, or other signs of premeditation, such as if there are two witnesses to the act, we have a case of murder and the penalty is death (this verse). For an act of unintentional manslaughter, the Torah prescribed the penalty of exile in one of the cities of refuge. This was a rather unusual institution, consisting of a group of six easily accessible cities settled by the Levites, where the hapless manslayer could live in comfortable and sympathetic surroundings "until the death of the high priest." [Numbers 35:25, 28; Deuteronomy 19:4-7). The system of "cities of refuge" seems to have served several different purposes. First, it was clearly a protective measure designed to guard against the blood-avenger (See Ramban and Sforno). According to S. D. Luzzatto, at this point in history, the blood feud was considered a sacred obligation by every family and clan. This procedure, by placing the manslayer into protective custody, assuaged the outraged feelings of the family of the victim with the thought that the slayer of their kinsman was being "punished." Others saw in the exile an expiation or therapeutic purpose to ease the burden of guilt from the shoulders of one who, after all, had been instrumental in the death of a human being.