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Numbers 35:25

in Numbers 35

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 there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

KJV

And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.

This verse in Numbers 35

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 9.55 · Written before 397.

The man who renounces the vices and rejects the way of life of his countrymen is in flight like Lot. Such a one does not look behind himself but enters that city which is above by the passageway of his thoughts, and he does not withdraw from it until the death of the chief priest who bore the sin of the world. He indeed died once, but he dies for each person who is baptized in Christ's death, that we may be buried together with him and rise with him and walk in the newness of his life.

This site's exposition

until the death of the high priest

The term ends at one event, "the death of the high priest", and no fine, span of years or conduct shortens it. Adam Clarke and Matthew Henry both read that of Christ, a link the New Testament nowhere states.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

There he was to remain in banishment from his own house and patrimony till the death of the high priest; and, if at any time he went out of that city or the suburbs of it, he put himself out of the protection of the law, and the avenger of blood, if he met him, might slay him,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

But he had to "abide in it." His confinement within its walls was a wise and salutary rule, designed to show the sanctity of human blood in God's sight, as well as to protect the manslayer himself, whose presence and intercourse in society might have provoked the passions of the deceased's relatives.

The words behind it

27 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.

  • וְהִצִּ֨ילוּand they will deliver

    vehitziluH5337 →

  • הָעֵדָ֜הthe congregation

    haedahH5712 →149 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָרֹצֵ֗חַthe killer

    harotzeachH7523 →47 times

  • מִיַּד֮from [the] hand of

    miyadH3027 →1618 times

  • גֹּאֵ֣ל[the] avenger of

    goelH1350 →104 times

  • הַדָּם֒<the> blood

    hadamH1818 →360 times

  • וְהֵשִׁ֤יבוּand they will return

    veheshivuH7725 →1056 times

  • אֹתוֹ֙<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • הָֽעֵדָ֔הthe congregation

    haedahH5712 →149 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • עִ֥יר[the] city of

    ʾirH5892 →1090 times

  • מִקְלָט֖וֹrefuge his

    miklatoH4733 →20 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־where

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • נָ֣סhe had fled

    nasH5127 →159 times

  • שָׁ֑מָּהthere towards

    shamahH8033 →834 times

  • וְיָ֣שַׁבand he will dwell

    veyashavH3427 →1079 times

  • בָּ֗הּin <the> it

    bah

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • מוֹת֙[the] death of

    motH4194 →156 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֣ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548 →750 times

  • הַגָּדֹ֔ל<the> great

    hagadolH1419 →526 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־whom

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • מָשַׁ֥חsomeone had anointed

    mashachH4886 →70 times

  • אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • בְּשֶׁ֥מֶןwith [the] oil of

    beshemenH8081 →193 times

  • הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃<the> holiness

    hakodeshH6944 →469 times

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

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…

  • Through

    Leviticus 4:3

    If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 9:2

      He said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and present them before the LORD.

    • Hebrews 7:27–28

      Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when…

    • Leviticus 4:14

      when they become aware of the sin they have committed, then the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting.

  • Through

    Exodus 29:7

    Then take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 21:10

      The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose…

    • Isaiah 61:1

      The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…

    • John 3:34

      For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 9.55; 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.