New Living Translation
Numbers 35:31
31Also, 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.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall 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.
Context of Numbers 35:31
29These are legal requirements for you to observe from generation to generation, wherever you may live. 30“All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 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. 32And never accept a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his property before the death of the high priest. 33This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder.
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 9:5“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die.
- Exodus 21:14However, if someone deliberately kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be put to death.
- Deuteronomy 19:11“But suppose someone is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders him and then flees to one of the cities of refuge.
- 2 Samuel 12:13Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.
- 1 Kings 2:28Joab had not joined Absalom’s earlier rebellion, but he had joined Adonijah’s rebellion. So when Joab heard about Adonijah’s death, he ran to the sacred tent of the Lord and grabbed on to the horns of the altar.
- Psalms 51:14Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
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
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