“ ‘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. If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died, or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
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.
If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.
If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died,
or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
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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.
And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.
But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die;
Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.
Show all 3 translations
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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.
And if he smote him with a stone in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.
And if he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him any thing, lying in wait, so that he died;
or in enmity smote him with his hand, that he died; he that smote him shall surely be put to death: he is a murderer; the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meeteth him.
Cross-references (43)
- Exodus 21:14 (v20) If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
- Leviticus 24:17 (v16) “ ‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
- Deuteronomy 19:11 (v20) 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…
- Genesis 4:8 (v20) Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed…
- 2 Samuel 3:27 (v20) When Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the…
Show all 43 cross-references
- 2 Samuel 20:10 (v20) But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So he struck him with it in the body, and shed out his bowels to the ground,…
- Numbers 35:21 (v19) or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of…
- Deuteronomy 19:6 (v19) Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and…
- Deuteronomy 19:12 (v19) 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.
- Joshua 20:3 (v19) that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger…
- Joshua 20:5 (v19) If the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver up the man slayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor…
- Genesis 4:5 (v20) but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell.
- Genesis 9:5-6 (v16) 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…
- Exodus 21:12-14 (v16) “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…
- Exodus 21:18 (v17) “If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed;
- Numbers 35:12 (v19) The cities shall be for your refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
- Numbers 35:22-24 (v16) “ ‘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…
- Numbers 35:24 (v19) then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
- Numbers 35:27 (v19) and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not…
- Numbers 35:30-33 (v16) “ ‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone…
- Deuteronomy 19:11-13 (v16) 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…
- 1 Samuel 18:10-11 (v20) On the next day, an evil spirit from God came mightily on Saul, and he prophesied in the middle of the house. David played with his hand,…
- 1 Samuel 18:25 (v20) Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies.’ ”…
- 1 Samuel 19:9-12 (v20) An evil spirit from Yahweh was on Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand. Saul sought…
- 1 Samuel 20:1 (v20) David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? What is my sin before your…
- 1 Samuel 23:7-9 (v20) Saul was told that David had come to Keilah. Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in by entering into a town that…
- 1 Samuel 24:11 (v20) Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn’t kill you,…
- 2 Samuel 13:22 (v20) Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
- 2 Samuel 13:28-29 (v20) Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Mark now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill…
- 1 Kings 2:5-6 (v20) “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the…
- 1 Kings 2:31-33 (v20) The king said to him, “Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause,…
- Psalms 10:7-10 (v20) His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. He lies in wait near the villages. From…
- Psalms 11:2 (v20) For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
- Psalms 35:7-8 (v20) For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul. Let destruction come on him…
- Psalms 57:4-6 (v20) My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a…
- Proverbs 1:18-19 (v20) but these lay in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It…
- Proverbs 26:24 (v20) A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but he harbors evil in his heart.
- Proverbs 28:17 (v20) A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.
- Mark 6:19 (v20) Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him, but she couldn’t,
- Mark 6:24-26 (v20) She went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” She said, “The head of John the Baptizer.” She came in immediately with haste to…
- Luke 4:29 (v20) They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off…
- Acts 20:3 (v20) When he had spent three months there, and a plot was made against him by Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he determined to…
- Acts 23:21 (v20) Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16–17 Wittingly, and willingly.
Wittingly, and willingly.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 21 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 On vv16, 17, 19 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 On vv16–21 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 On vv16, 19 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.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v19 Verse 19. The revenger of blood] גאל הדם goel…
Verse 19. The revenger of blood] גאל הדם goel haddam, the redeemer of blood; the next in blood to him who was slain. See on the preceding verse.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv18–19 Num 35:18. With a hand-weapon — It made no…
Num 35:18. With a hand-weapon — It made no difference with what kind of weapon he was killed, whether it was of iron, wood, or stone. If he was killed wittingly and knowingly, it was murder, and the guilty person was to die for it. For though perhaps he had no intention to kill the person, yet he ought to have moderated his passion, and could not be ignorant that such an instrument was capable of inflicting a deadly wound.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v16 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.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 21 If, &c. Hebrew, "or he smite him with a…
If, &c. Hebrew, "or he smite him with a wooden weapon, (wherewith he may die,) and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death." The two former verses are expressed in the same awful manner, intimating that the weapon must be of such a nature that it might easily give a mortal wound, and also that the effect really followed. In these cases, if the person could not clear himself, no refuge or reprieve was allowed. (Haydock) --- But the deceased must have been killed upon the spot, otherwise the person who struck him could only be required to pay a fine, Exodus xxi. 19. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v16 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 On v16 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 On vv16, 17, 20 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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 20 (17) And if he smite . . . —Better,…
(17) And if he smite . . . —Better, And if he smote . . .
With throwing a stone.—Literally, with a stone of the hand—i.e., a stone held in the hand, whether thrown or used as the “weapon of wood” of Num_35:18.
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And he die.—Better, and he died.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16–20 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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v19 Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20")
revenger
Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 19 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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v19 35:19 The avenger was the victim’s closest relative; he…
35:19 The avenger was the victim’s closest relative; he was responsible for putting the murderer to death, carrying out the vengeance that justice required (Gen 9:6).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.