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Numbers 35:23

in Numbers 35

or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

or with any stone, whereby a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm;

KJV

Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:

This verse in Numbers 35

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

pushes a person suddenly, without hostility

on Numbers 35:22-24

Verse 24 has the congregation "judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood", so the bereaved family does not weigh its own case. In Joshua 20:4 the fugitive states "his case before its elders".

This site's exposition

without looking drops a heavy stone

The verse describes the accident, a stone falling on someone the thrower never saw. John Gill reports a Jewish dispute over the words seeing him not, some freeing a blind man, others sending him to a city of refuge. The closing words, he was not an enemy, settle the motive.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Or with any stone wherewith a man may die,.... Which is sufficient to kill a man, if thrown at him: seeing him not; and so without intention: the Jews (s) from hence gather, that a blind man is to be acquitted and dismissed, and not banished and so stands in no need of a city of refuge; though others say he is to be banished, and needs it, and ought to have the privilege of it: and cast it upon him that he die; casting, it upon another account, and with another view, but yet falling upon a man, it kills him: and was not his enemy, neither sought him harm; it was never known that they were at variance, or that the slayer had ever by any overt act discovered any malice and enmity against the deceased, by word or deed, or ever sought to do him any injury, either to his person or property. (s) Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 3.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

If he neglected thus to surrender himself, it was at his peril; if the avenger of blood met him elsewhere, or overtook him loitering in his way to the city of refuge, and slew him, his blood was upon his own head, because he did not make use of the security which God had provided for him.

The words behind it

18 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.

  • א֣וֹor

    ʾoH176 →321 times

  • בְכָל־with any

    vekhol-H3605 →5413 times

  • אֶ֜בֶןstone

    ʾevenH68 →273 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יָמ֥וּתsomeone will die

    yamutH4191 →839 times

  • בָּהּ֙by <the> it

    bah

  • בְּלֹ֣אwith not

    belo'H3808 →5168 times

  • רְא֔וֹתseeing [him]

    reotH7200 →1300 times

  • וַיַּפֵּ֥לand he made [it] fall

    vaiyapelH5307 →435 times

  • עָלָ֖יוon him

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • וַיָּמֹ֑תand he died

    vaiyamotH4191 →839 times

  • וְהוּא֙and he

    vehu'H1931 →1879 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • אוֹיֵ֣ב[was] an enemy

    ʾoyevH341 →282 times

  • ל֔וֹof him

    lo

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ[was] seeking

    mevakeshH1245 →

  • רָעָתֽוֹ׃harm his

    raatoH7451 →662 times

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

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.

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