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Numbers 35:24

in Numbers 35

then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances;

KJV

Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments:

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This verse in Numbers 35

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
Then the congregation,.... That is, the court of judicature, assembled together to hear and try this cause: shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood; shall hear what both have to say, and pass sentence: according to these judgments; these judicial laws and rules of judgment before delivered, exemplified in various cases.

This site's exposition

if he thrust him suddenly without enmity

on Numbers 35:22-24

The accidental case is drawn with care, thrust suddenly, cast upon him seeing him not, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm. Verse 24 puts the decision with the congregation, judging between the slayer and the revenger of blood, so the family that has lost a man does not weigh its own case. John Gill takes the congregation here as the court sitting to hear both sides, and Joshua 20:4 has the fugitive declaring his cause to the elders in the gate before the city takes him in.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

, that the judges interposed only in a doubtful case, and that if the person on whom he took vengeance was indeed the murderer, and a wilful murderer, the avenger was innocent (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְשָֽׁפְטוּ֙and they will judge

    veshafetuH8199 →

  • הָֽעֵדָ֔הthe congregation

    haedahH5712 →149 times

  • בֵּ֚יןbetween

    beinH996 →407 times

  • הַמַּכֶּ֔הthe [one who] struck

    hamakehH5221 →499 times

  • וּבֵ֖יןand between

    uveinH996 →407 times

  • גֹּאֵ֣ל[the] avenger of

    goelH1350 →104 times

  • הַדָּ֑ם<the> blood

    hadamH1818 →360 times

  • עַ֥לon

    ʾalH5921 →5755 times

  • הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֖יםthe judgments

    hamishpatimH4941 →422 times

  • הָאֵֽלֶּה׃<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Joshua 20:6He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his own home in the city from which he fled.”5 worksNumbers 35:12You 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.4 worksDeuteronomy 19:11If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,2 worksExodus 21:1“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:2 worksNumbers 35:19The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 20:6

    He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his own…

    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.

    • Hebrews 9:26

      Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by…

    • Numbers 35:24–25

      then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.

  • Through

    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.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 19:6

      Otherwise, 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…

    • Joshua 20:3–6

      so that anyone who kills another unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

    • 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…

    • Joshua 20:9

      These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of…

    • 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,

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Numbers

The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 35 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 35 →