Numbers 35 · Verse 22

Numbers 35:22

But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait,
Numbers 35:22, King James Version

Numbers 35:22 in other translations

BSBBut if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,
WEB“‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait,
ASVBut if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without lying in wait,
YLT‘And if, in an instant, without enmity, he hath thrust him through, or hath cast at him any instrument, without lying in wait;
DARBYBut if he have thrust at him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him anything unintentionally,
BBEBut if a man has given a wound to another suddenly and not in hate, or without design has sent something against him,
WebsterBut if he shall thrust him suddenly without enmity, or shall have cast upon him any thing without laying in wait,

What does Numbers 35:22 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 35:22-28
22-28. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, &c.--Under the excitement of a sudden provocation, or violent passion, an injury might be inflicted issuing in death; and for a person who had thus undesignedly committed slaughter, the Levitical cities offered the benefit of full protection. Once having reached the nearest, for one or other of them was within a day's journey of all parts of the land, he was secure. 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. But the period of his release from this confinement was not until the death of the high priest. That was a season of public affliction, when private sorrows were sunk or overlooked under a sense of the national calamity, and when the death of so eminent a servant of God naturally led all to serious consideration about their own mortality. The moment, however, that the refugee broke through the restraints of his confinement and ventured beyond the precincts of the asylum, he forfeited the privilege, and, if he was discovered by his pursuer, he might be slain with impunity.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 35:9-34

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…

Read the full comment on Numbers 35:9-34 →

Numbers 35:22 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאִם\־ve.'im-and ifH518
בְּפֶ֥תַעbe.Fe.ta'in an instantH6621
בְּלֹא\־be.lo'-with notH3808
אֵיבָ֖ה'ei.VahenmityH342
הֲדָפ֑וֹha.da.Fohe pushed himH1920
אוֹ\־'ov-orH176
הִשְׁלִ֥יךְhish.Likhhe threwH7993
עָלָ֛יו'a.Lavon himH5921
כָּל\־kol-anyH3605
כְּלִ֖יke.LiweaponH3627
בְּלֹ֥אbe.Lo'with notH3808
צְדִיָּֽה\׃tze.di.Yahlying in waitH6660

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 35:22

  • Exodus 21:13

    And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.

  • Numbers 35:11

    Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.

  • Joshua 20:5

    And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime.

  • Deuteronomy 19:5

    As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:

  • Joshua 20:3

    That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
11; Ex 21:13; De 19:5; Jos 20:3,5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 35:21

    Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.

  • Numbers 35:22

    But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait,

  • Numbers 35:23

    Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:

Read all of Numbers 35

Numbers 35:22 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Mas si casualmente lo empujó sin enemistades, ó echó sobre él cualquier instrumento sin asechanzas,
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		– Mais s’il l’a poussée subitement, sans inimitié, ou s’il a jeté sur elle un objet quelconque, sans préméditation,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn er aber von ungefähr, nicht aus Feindschaft, ihn gestoßen, oder unabsichtlich irgend ein Werkzeug auf ihn geworfen hat,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quod si fortuitu, et absque odio