Numbers 35:16
in Numbers 35If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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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This verse in Numbers 35
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd 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: 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.
This site's exposition
strikes a person with an iron object
on Numbers 35:16-18
Three instruments are named, iron, stone and wood, and only the iron object carries no qualifier. The stone must be "of deadly size" and the wood "a deadly object", since a stone or stick may be in hand for harmless reasons and a blade may not. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the list as proof of settled purpose, and John Gill takes the chosen instrument as showing the slayer's design.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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 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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
באבן יד [AND IF HE SMOTE HIM] WITH A STONE IN THE HAND (more lit., with a stone of the hand) — one which has the size of a full hand (i.e., large enough to fill a hand).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בִּכְלִ֨י | bikhli | with an instrument of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| בַרְזֶ֧ל׀ | varzel | iron | H1270 → | |
| הִכָּ֛הוּ | hikahu | he struck down him | H5221 → | 499 times |
| וַיָּמֹ֖ת | vaiyamot | and he died | H4191 → | 839 times |
| רֹצֵ֣חַֽ | rotzeach | [is] a killer | H7523 → | 47 times |
| ה֑וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| מ֥וֹת | mot | certainly <to die> | H4191 → | 839 times |
| יוּמַ֖ת | yumat | he will be put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
| הָרֹצֵֽחַ׃ | harotzeach | the killer | H7523 → | 47 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
בִּכְלִ֨יwith an instrument of
bikhliH3627 →325 times
בַרְזֶ֧ל׀iron
varzelH1270 →
הִכָּ֛הוּhe struck down him
hikahuH5221 →499 times
וַיָּמֹ֖תand he died
vaiyamotH4191 →839 times
רֹצֵ֣חַֽ[is] a killer
rotzeachH7523 →47 times
ה֑וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
מ֥וֹתcertainly <to die>
motH4191 →839 times
יוּמַ֖תhe will be put to death
yumatH4191 →839 times
הָרֹצֵֽחַ׃the killer
harotzeachH7523 →47 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
Leviticus 24:17And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 19:11–12
If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,
- Genesis 9:5–6
And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
- Deuteronomy 27:24
‘Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Numbers 35:30–31
If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a…
- Exodus 21:12–14
Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
- Deuteronomy 19:11–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.