Study Makkot folio 13A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
The unintentional murderers would pay a fee to the Levites as rent for their living quarters in the cities of refuge, which were Levite cities; this is the statement of R' Yehuda. R' Meir says: They would not pay a fee to them, but would reside rent free, as they are required to live there by Torah
Talmud: Rav Kahana said: This dispute between R' Yehuda and R' Meir is with regard to payment of rent to the Levite landlords in the 6 cities of refuge designated in the Torah and in the book of Joshua, as one Sage, R' Yehuda, holds that in the verse: “They shall be cities of refuge for you” (Num
Rava said to him: But the term “for you” certainly indicates for all your needs; therefore, the dispute cannot be as Rav Kahana explains it. Rather, Rava said: The dispute is only with regard to the 42 Levite cities, as one Sage, R' Yehuda, holds that from the verse: “They shall be the 6 cities o
§ The Mishnah teaches that there is a dispute as to whether the unintentional murderer returns to the same public office that he occupied prior to his exile. On a related note, A baraita states with regard to a Hebrew slave liberated during the Jubilee Year, about whom it is written: “And he returns
And likewise, the same is true with regard to an exile sent to a city of refuge, as when the verse states: “To the estate of his fathers he shall return,” the term “he shall return” is redundant and it serves to include the unintentional murderer.