Leviticus 24:21
in Leviticus 24Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he that killeth a beast shall make it good: and he that killeth a man shall be put to death.
KJV
And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.
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This verse in Leviticus 24
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd, it should seem, this is it that brings in these laws here, to show how equitable it was that strangers as well as Israelites should be punished for blasphemy, because strangers as well as Israelites were punishable for other crimes.
This site's exposition
he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it
on Leviticus 24:21-22
The two rules are stated again in short form and then the chapter gives its reason. One manner of law for the stranger and for one of your own country, and the sentence that closes it is I am the LORD your God, which is the reason and not a signature. Exodus 12:49 had already said that one law shall be to him that is homeborn and unto the stranger, and Leviticus 19:34 grounds the same equality in Israel's own years in Egypt. The court about to stone a half Egyptian is told in the same breath that it owes him the protection of the same law.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death--These verses contain a repetition of some other laws, relating to offenses of a social nature, the penalties for which were to be inflicted, not by the hand of private parties, but through the medium of the judges before whom the cause was brought.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמַכֵּ֥ה | umakeh | and [one who] strikes down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| בְהֵמָ֖ה | vehemah | an animal | H929 → | 190 times |
| יְשַׁלְּמֶ֑נָּה | yeshallemenah | he will repay it | H7999 → | 116 times |
| וּמַכֵּ֥ה | umakeh | and [one who] strikes down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אָדָ֖ם | ʾadam | a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| יוּמָֽת׃ | yumat | he will be put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
וּמַכֵּ֥הand [one who] strikes down
umakehH5221 →499 times
בְהֵמָ֖הan animal
vehemahH929 →190 times
יְשַׁלְּמֶ֑נָּהhe will repay it
yeshallemenahH7999 →116 times
וּמַכֵּ֥הand [one who] strikes down
umakehH5221 →499 times
אָדָ֖םa person
ʾadamH120 →551 times
יוּמָֽת׃he will be put to death
yumatH4191 →839 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 21:33If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 10:8
He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
- Jeremiah 18:20
Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
- Psalms 119:85
The arrogant have dug pits for me in violation of Your law.
- Jeremiah 18:22
Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
- Proverbs 28:10
He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.
- Ecclesiastes 10:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.