The bible speaks of a person who killed someone accidentally. He must exile himself to one of the cities of refuge and there, he was protected from the avenger of blood. In the bible, there is no such punishment as jail. There is a temporary holding while waiting for punishment, however, jail as a punishment does not exist.
The Torah (Torah in Hebrew means instruction and guidance) – Bible, is a Torah of Life and a Torah of Kindness, in a true sense, there is no punishments in the Torah. What a person receives when making wrong choices is a form of remedy and setting right, the bad choice that was made, life must continue stronger and better. Therefore, no one has a right to restrain and hold back a person from carrying out his purpose in this world. There is no place for sitting in jail, because the possibility to rectify ones behavior and fulfill ones purpose is taken away from the individual for that duration of time.G-d grants everyone a limited amount of time to fulfill his purpose for coming down to this world, and every second is precious in fulfilling this mission and can not be replaced when lost.
One of the worst crimes in the bible is murder, and even someone who killed unintentionally, is not held in a jail, he must go to a city of refuge. This punishment of exile as a result of separating the killed person from his family, causes a person pain by being estranged from his loved ones and friends. However, even there, he is provided with all his needs like any free person in a regular city. The Talmud goes even further and says, if a student was exiled, his teacher must follow him, so that the exiled will not loose his chance to continue his studies of the proper path one must follow in life.
All the commandments in the bible have a personal lesson in ones spiritual service to G-d. Spiritually in ones own life, there is a scenario of killing accidentally. This happens when someone sins and acts against G-ds will. Since everyone has a spark of G-dliness within, when acting against G-d will, he is “smiting a soul” his own soul – the spark of G-d within. Hurting and blemishing the G-d within. We still consider this accidental, because our sages tell us “a person does not sin unless a spirit of foolishness entered his mind and heart”. Only someone not in the right frame of mind would hurt their own selves.
Although his act against his own source of life, his soul, was done in foolishness, he is nevertheless not exempt from punishment, because he is guilty of not stopping his foolishness from festering inside himself. Had he not entertained the foolishness, it would never have taken hold in his life and influenced him to the point of acting against his own interest. The avenger of blood, in this case, the prosecuting angels have every right to seek justice unless the person takes refuge in the cities of refuge.
In the Bible, a person would have to bring a sacrifice for transgressing a sin accidentally. The question is asked, why does he need any forgiveness when it was accidental? One of the answers is, that he is guilty of not studying and knowing that what he was doing was wrong.
Spiritually, the city of refuge counters the foolishness of the animal inclination within, and this is the study of the ultimate wisdom in G-ds Torah (instruction book) and its commentaries when taught from the proper sources. We are told that without the proper direction, a person can sometimes be within the law and yet be outside the intent and spirit of being protected by the cities of refuge. A person can not rely only on his own mind all the time, and sometimes, he must rely on a wisdom that is greater than his own.