Much of Deuteronomy 19-21 is related to the commandment, "Thou shalt not murder." In Deuteronomy 19:1-13, Moses returns to the subject of manslaughter cases and the establishment of cities of refuge , to which someone who had inadvertently taken a life could flee, pending a trial. The goal here is to limit the shedding of innocent blood and the resulting defilement of the land.
Initially there would be six cities of refuge, three on each side of the Jordan River. One new detail Moses mentions here is the fact that additional cities would be added in the event that Israel prospered in the land and had the opportunity to expand its territory (vv 8-10).
Deuteronomy 19:15-21 repeats the requirement of multiple witnesses in a criminal case, and adds that when a false witness is exposed, that false witness should be given the punishment that he wanted the defendant to receive.
There are biblical examples of the measure-for-measure punishment of those responsible for false witness. When Ahab and Jezebel orchestrate the death of Naboth (1 Ki 21), they both were punished for it (1 Ki 22:34-38; 2 Ki 9:30-37). Daniel's accusers in Daniel 6 and the evil Haman (Esther 7:9-10) are two further examples.
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