Numbers 35:12

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 Living Translation (NLT)These cities will be places of protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to death before being tried by the community.

Context of Numbers 35:12

10“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. 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. 13And of the cities which you give, you shall have six cities of refuge. 14You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge.

Numbers 35:12 word by word

וְהָי֨וּ לָכֶ֧ם הֶעָרִ֛ים לְמִקְלָ֖ט מִגֹּאֵ֑ל וְלֹ֤א יָמוּת֙ הָרֹצֵ֔חַ עַד־עָמְד֛וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י הָעֵדָ֖ה לַמִּשְׁפָּֽט׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And they shall be unto you citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• for refugeמִקְלָטmiqlâţ · refugeH4733
• from the avengerגָּאַלgâ'al · to redeem: avengeH1350
• that the manslayerרָצַחrâtsach · to murderH7523
• dieמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• not, until he standעָמַד‛âmad · to stand: standH5975
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the congregationעֵדָה‛êdâh · congregationH5712
• in judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justice: judgementH4941

Cross-references for Numbers 35:12

• Numbers 35:19The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
• Deuteronomy 19:6lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past.
• Joshua 20:3that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
• 2 Samuel 14:7And now the whole family has risen up against your maidservant, and they said, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also.’ So they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the earth.”
• Numbers 35:24then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments.
• Deuteronomy 19:11“But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,
• Joshua 20:4And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of 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

• Government
• Homicide
• Refuge

In the dictionaries

• City
• Congregation
• Goel
• Manslayer
• Refuge, Cities of
• Testify
• Amorites
• Avenge; Avenger
• Courts, Judicial
• Crime; Crimes

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