American Standard Version
Numbers 35:12
12And the cities shall be unto you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation for judgment.
Numbers 35:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.
- New International Version (NIV)They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that anyone accused of murder may not die before they stand trial before the assembly.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
- New King James Version (NKJV)They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment.
Context of Numbers 35:12
10Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither. And the cities shall be unto you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation for judgment. 13And the cities which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. 14Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.
Read all of Numbers 35Numbers 35:12 word by word
וְהָי֨וּ לָכֶ֧ם הֶעָרִ֛ים לְמִקְלָ֖ט מִגֹּאֵ֑ל וְלֹ֤א יָמוּת֙ הָרֹצֵ֔חַ עַד־עָמְד֛וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י הָעֵדָ֖ה לַמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Numbers 35:12
- Numbers 35:19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.
- Deuteronomy 19:6lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
- Joshua 20:3that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly and unawares may flee thither: and they shall be unto you for a refuge from the avenger of blood.
- 2 Samuel 14:7And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they say, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew, and so destroy the heir also. Thus will they quench my coal which is left, and will leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the face of the earth.
- Numbers 35:24then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances;
- Deuteronomy 19:11But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally so that he dieth, and he flee into one of these cities;
- Joshua 20:4And he shall flee unto one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
Commentaries on Numbers 35:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Until he stand before the congregation in judgment - So one of these cities was not a perpetual asylum; It was only a pro tempore refuge, till the case could be fairly examined by the magistrates in the presence of the people, or the elders their representatives; and this was done in the city or place where he had done the murder, Joshua 20:4, Joshua 20:6. If he was found worthy of death, they delivered him to the avenger that he might be slain…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12The avenger - Hebrew גאל gā'al a term of which the original import is uncertain. The very obscurity of its etymology testifies to the antiquity of the office which it denotes. That office rested on the principle of Genesis 9:6, “whoso sheddeth man‘s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” The unwritten code of the East conceded to the nearest kinsman of a murdered man the right of avenging the blood that had been shed. Such rude justice necessarily…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-34Verses 9-34 To show plainly the abhorrence of murder, and to provide the more effectually for the punishment of the murderer, the nearest relation of the deceased, under the title of avenger of blood, (or the redeemer of blood,) in notorious cases, might pursue, and execute vengeance. A distinction is made, not between sudden anger and malice aforethought, both which are the crime of murder; but between intentionally striking a man with any weapon likely…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12a refuge from the avenger: Justice was carried out through vengeance. A designated avenger, usually a close relative of the person who died, took this role.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 9-3411. that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares--The practice of Goelism, that is, of the nearest relation of an individual who was killed being bound to demand satisfaction from the author of his death, existed from a very remote antiquity (Ge 4:14; 27:45). It seems to have been an established usage in the age of Moses; and although in a rude and imperfect state of society, it is a natural and intelligible principle of criminal…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 35:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 35
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries