English Standard Version
Numbers 35:31
31Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death.
Numbers 35:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to death.
Context of Numbers 35:31
29And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 30"If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
Read all of Numbers 35Numbers 35:31 word by word
וְלֹֽא־תִקְח֥וּ כֹ֙פֶר֙ לְנֶ֣פֶשׁ רֹצֵ֔חַ אֲשֶׁר־ה֥וּא רָשָׁ֖ע לָמ֑וּת כִּי־מ֖וֹת יוּמָֽת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 35:31
- Genesis 9:5And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
- Exodus 21:14But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
- Deuteronomy 19:11"But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities,
- 2 Samuel 12:13David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
- 1 Kings 2:28When the news came to Joab—for Joab had supported Adonijah although he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
- Psalms 51:14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
Commentaries on Numbers 35:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer - No atonement could be made for him, nor any commutation, so as to save him from death. All the laws of the civilized world have either adjudged the murderer to death, or to a punishment equivalent to it; such as perpetual imprisonment, in a dungeon, under ground, on a stone floor, without light, and to be fed on a small portion of bread and water. In such circumstances a man could live but a short…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31No satisfaction - Rather, ransom (see Exodus 21:30). The permission to demand pecuniary compensation for murders (expressly sanctioned by the Koran) undoubtedly mitigates, in practice, the system of private retaliation; but it does so by sacrificing the principle named in Numbers 35:12, Numbers 35:33.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. 31-32The law did not allow the payment of a ransom (money paid as compensation) to free a convicted murderer from execution. The death penalty was required for murder (compare 2 Samuel 21:2–9). Similarly, a person who caused an accidental death could not pay money to avoid staying in a city of refuge. That person had to remain there until the proper time.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 29-3429-34. these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations--The law of the blood-avenger, as thus established by divine authority, was a vast improvement on the ancient practice of Goelism. By the appointment of cities of refuge, the manslayer was saved, in the meantime, from the blind and impetuous fury of vindictive relatives; but he might be tried by the local court, and, if proved guilty on sufficient evidence…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 35:31
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries