“ ‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
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And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
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But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Numbers 35:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 24:17 “ ‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
- Genesis 9:5-6 I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.
- Exodus 21:12-14 “One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
- Numbers 35:22-24 “ ‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
- Numbers 35:30-33 “ ‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies. “ ‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death. “ ‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. “ ‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.
- Deuteronomy 19:11-13 But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities; then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Wittingly, and willingly.
Wittingly, and willingly.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 35:16 And if he smite him with an…
Num 35:16 And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he [is] a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Ver. 16. So that he die.] Though he had no intent to kill, yet because he should have looked better to it, he is a murderer; he smote him purposely and presumptuously, and the man dies of it. King James was wont to say, that if God did leave him to kill a man (though beside his intention), he should think God did not love him.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If he smite him, wittingly and wilfully, though not…
If he smite him, wittingly and wilfully, though not with premeditated malice or design, as appears by comparing this with Num 35:20-23.
So that he die, to wit, suddenly, not so if he walked abroad afterward, Exo 21:19,20.
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Shall surely be put to death; yea, though he were fled into the city of refuge.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And if he smite him with an instrument of…
And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die,.... As with an hatchet, hammer, sword, knife, &c.
he is a murderer; the instrument used by him, and with which he smote, shows that he had a bad design, and intended to kill, or he would never have smitten a man with such an instrument:
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the murderer shall surely be put to death; be condemned to death, and be executed, by the order of the civil magistrate, according to the law in Gen 9:6 and not be allowed the benefit of a city of refuge.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain If he smite him - Wittingly and wilfully, though…
If he smite him - Wittingly and wilfully, though not with premeditated malice. He shall be put to death - Yea though he were fled into the city of refuge.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The sense is: Inasmuch as to take another man’s…
The sense is: Inasmuch as to take another man’s life by any means whatsoever is murder, and exposes the murderer to the penalty of retaliation; so, if the deed is done in hostility, it is in truth actual murder, and the murderer shall be slain; but if it be not done in hostility, then the congregation shall interpose to stop the avenger’s hand.
Num 35:19
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When he meeteth him - Provided, of course, it were without a city of refuge.
Num 35:24
The case of the innocent slayer is here contemplated. In a doubtful case there would necessarily have to be a judicial decision as to the guilt or innocence of the person who claimed the right of asylum.
Num 35:25
The homicide was safe only within the walls of his city of refuge. He became a virtual exile from his home. The provisions here made serve to mark the gravity of the act of manslaughter, even when not premeditated; and the inconveniences attending on them fell, as is right and fair, upon him who committed the deed.
Unto the death of the high priest - The atoning death of the Saviour cast its shadow before on the statute-book of the Law and on the annals of Jewish history. The high priest, as the head and representative of the whole chosen family of sacerdotal mediators, as exclusively entrusted with some of the chief priestly functions, as alone privileged to make yearly atonement within the holy of holies, and to gain, from the mysterious Urim and Thummim, special revelations of the will of God, was, preeminently, a type of Christ. And thus the death of each successive high priest presignified that death of Christ by which the captives were to be freed, and the remembrance of transgressions made to cease.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain If he smite him with an instrument of iron,…
If he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, &c.--Various cases are here enumerated in which the Goel or avenger was at liberty to take the life of the murderer; and every one of them proves a premeditated purpose.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain THE COMMISSIONERS FOR DISTRIBUTING THE LAND, Num_34:16-29.
THE COMMISSIONERS FOR DISTRIBUTING THE LAND, Num_34:16-29.
The ex officio members of this commission were Eleazar, the high priest, and Joshua, the commander of the army, as the lieutenant of Jehovah.
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Jos_5:14. Of the ten princes, representing the nine and a half tribes, Caleb is the only one of whom any thing else is known. The order of the tribes here enumerated, with slight exceptions, corresponds both to their fraternal relationship and to their geographical location in Canaan, reckoning from south to north. This deviates somewhat from the order in which the lots came out for the different tribes according to Joshua 15-19.
THE INTENTIONAL MANSLAYER, Num_35:16-21.
16-21. If any person has struck another with an instrument of iron, as an axe or hammer, or with a stone, literally, a stone of the hand, that is, large enough to fill the hand and to kill a man with, or with a hand weapon of wood, as a thick club, and death ensued, a murderous intent is inferred, and the death penalty is inflicted. An ambuscade or laying of wait, preceding the fatal blow, is a still stronger proof of malice aforethought. Gen_9:5-6; Exo_20:13, note. Capital punishment is discussed in Lev_24:21, note, and in the concluding note of the same chapter.
The revenger of blood shall slay the murderer — This duty was never outlawed by any limitation of time or of place, save within the walls of the city of refuge. If the offender took refuge in a free city the elders of the city were to hand him over to the avenger, or goel, to be slain. Gen_4:15, note; Deu_19:11-12.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16–23. Specimen cases of murder and accidental homicide respectively;…
16–23. Specimen cases of murder and accidental homicide respectively; cf. Exo_21:13 f.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain With an instrument of iron. There is no reasonable…
With an instrument of iron. There is no reasonable doubt that lyrB has here (as elsewhere) its proper meaning of iron. The expression must be held to include both weapons and other instruments; the former may have been mostly made of bronze, but where iron is used at all it is sure to be employed in war.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues telling Moses what the people must do.
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He must certainly be put to death
This can be stated in active form. AT: "You must certainly execute him" (See: Active or Passive and Idiom)
translationWords
accuse
die
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.