Numbers 35:19
in Numbers 35The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.
KJV
The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.
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This verse in Numbers 35
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe revenger of blood - גאל הדם goel haddam, the redeemer of blood; the next in blood to him who was slain. See on Num 35:12 (note).
This site's exposition
The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer
on Numbers 35:19-21
Having weighed the weapon, the law turns to the mind, and verses 20 and 21 name hatred, lying in wait and enmity as what makes a blow murder. Verse 19 puts the execution in the hand of the revenger of blood himself, and readers divide over whether that is a permission granted to the kinsman or an office he discharges once sentence has been passed. Matthew Henry reports the Chaldee taking it as execution only after the court has condemned the man, and he leaves the plain sense of the verse standing beside that reading.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Only if the fact were plain then the next heir of the person slain might himself, in a just indignation, slay the murderer wherever he met him. Some think this must be understood to be after the lawful judgment of the magistrate, and so the Chaldee says, "He shall slay him, when he shall be condemned unto him by judgment; " but it should seem, by
He shall slay him - Either by himself, as the following words shew; so it is a permission, that he may do it without offense to God or danger to himself: or by the magistrate, from whom he shall demand justice: so it is a command.
The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גֹּאֵ֣ל | goel | [the] avenger of | H1350 → | 104 times |
| הַדָּ֔ם | hadam | <the> blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יָמִ֖ית | yamit | he will put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָרֹצֵ֑חַ | harotzeach | the killer | H7523 → | 47 times |
| בְּפִגְעוֹ־ | befigov- | when meets he | H6293 → | |
| ב֖וֹ | vo | <in> <the> him | ||
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יְמִיתֶֽנּוּ׃ | yemitenu | he will put to death him | H4191 → | 839 times |
גֹּאֵ֣ל[the] avenger of
goelH1350 →104 times
הַדָּ֔ם<the> blood
hadamH1818 →360 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יָמִ֖יתhe will put to death
yamitH4191 →839 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָרֹצֵ֑חַthe killer
harotzeachH7523 →47 times
בְּפִגְעוֹ־when meets he
befigov-H6293 →
ב֖וֹ<in> <the> him
vo
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יְמִיתֶֽנּוּ׃he will put to death him
yemitenuH4191 →839 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Joshua 20:5Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand, because that man killed his neighbor accidentally without prior malice.
it leads to
- Numbers 35:12
You are to have these cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands trial before the assembly.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 35:25
The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live…
- Numbers 35:12
Through
Deuteronomy 19:12the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:28–34
When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar.
- 1 Kings 2:5–6
Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them…
- 1 Kings 2:28–34
Through
Deuteronomy 19:6Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not…
it leads to
- Joshua 20:5
Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand, because that man killed his neighbor accidentally without prior malice.
- Deuteronomy 21:22
If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,
- 2 Samuel 14:7
Now the whole clan has risen up against your maidservant and said, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of the brother…
- Jeremiah 26:15–16
But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its residents; for truly the LORD has sent me to speak…
- Joshua 20:5
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.