Numbers 35 · Verse 33

Numbers 35:33

So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
Numbers 35:33, King James Version

Numbers 35:33 in other translations

BSBDo not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
WEB“‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.
ASVSo ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood, it polluteth the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
YLT‘And ye profane not the land which ye are in, for blood profaneth the land; as to the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheddeth it;
DARBYAnd ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood, it polluteth the land; and there can be no atonement made for the land, for the blood that hath been shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
BBESo do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.
WebsterSo ye shall not pollute the land in which ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him that shed it.

What does Numbers 35:33 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 35:29-34

29-34. 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…

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Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 33 For blood it defileth the land - The very land was considered as guilty till the blood of the murderer was shed in it. No wonder God is so particularly strict in his laws against murderers, 1. Because he is the author of life, and none have any right to dispose of it but himself. 2. Because life is the time to prepare for the eternal world, and on it the salvation of the soul accordingly depends; therefore it is of infinite consequence to the man that his life be lengthened out to the utmost limits assigned by Divine Providence. As he who takes a man's life away before his time may be the murderer of his soul as well as of his body, the severest laws should be enacted against this, both to punish and prevent the crime. The Mosaic cities of refuge have in general been considered, not merely as civil institutions, but as types or representations of infinitely better things; and in this light St. Paul seems to have considered them and the altar of God, which was a place of general refuge, as it is pretty evident that he had them in view when writing the following words: "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, (his oath and promise), in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have Fled for Refuge to lay Hold upon the Hope set before us," Heb 6:17, Heb 6:18. Independently of this, it was a very wise political institute; and while the patriarchal law on this point continued in force, this law had a direct tendency to cool and moderate the spirit of revenge, to secure the proper accomplishment of the ends of justice, and to make way for every claim of mercy and equity. But this is not peculiar to the ordinance of the cities of refuge; every institution of God is distinguished in the same way, having his own glory, in the present and eternal welfare of man, immediately in view.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · 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…

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Numbers 35:33 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.

וְלֹֽא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808
תַחֲנִ֣יפוּta.cha.Ni.fuyou will polluteH2610
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָאָ֗רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.SherwhichH834
אַתֶּם֙'a.TemyouH859
בָּ֔הּBah[are] in <the> it
כִּ֣יkiforH3588
הַדָּ֔םha.Dam<the> bloodH1818
ה֥וּאhu'itH1931
יַחֲנִ֖יףya.cha.Nifit pollutesH2610
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
וְלָאָ֣רֶץve.la.'A.retzand for the landH776
לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808
יְכֻפַּ֗רye.khu.Parit will be atonedH3722
לַדָּם֙la.Damto the bloodH1818
אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834
שֻׁפַּךְ\־shu.pakh-it was shedH8210
בָּ֔הּBahin <the> it
כִּי\־ki-thatH3588
אִ֖ם'imexceptH518
בְּדַ֥םbe.Damby [the] blood ofH1818
שֹׁפְכֽוֹ\׃sho.fe.Kho[the] [one who] shed itH8210

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

Cross references for Numbers 35:33

  • Luke 11:50-51

    That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

  • Psalms 106:38

    And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

  • Genesis 9:6

    Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

  • Isaiah 26:21

    For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

  • Matthew 23:31-35

    Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: …

  • Hosea 4:2-3

    By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

  • Leviticus 18:25

    And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

  • Ezekiel 22:24-27

    Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

  • Micah 4:11

    Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.

  • 2 Kings 23:26

    Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

  • 2 Kings 24:4

    And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.

  • Deuteronomy 21:1-8

    If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley: …

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
it defileth.
Le 18:25; De 21:1-8,23; 2Ki 23:26; 24:4; Ps 106:28; Isa 26:21
Eze 22:24-27; Ho 4:2,3; Mic 4:11; Mt 23:31-35; Lu 11:50,51
the land cannot be cleansed. Heb. there can be no expiationfor the land.

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

Context

  • Numbers 35:32

    And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.

  • Numbers 35:33

    So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

  • Numbers 35:34

    Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.

Read all of Numbers 35

Numbers 35:33 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y no contaminaréis la tierra donde estuviereis: porque esta sangre amancillará la tierra: y la tierra no será expiada de la sangre que fué derramada en ella, sino por la sangre del que la derramó.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et vous ne profanerez point le pays où vous êtes, car le sang profane le pays; et l’expiation du sang ne pourra être faite, pour le pays où il a été versé, que par le sang de celui qui l’a versé.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und ihr sollt das Land nicht entweihen, in welchem ihr seid; denn das Blut, das entweiht das Land; und für das Land kann keine Sühnung getan werden wegen des Blutes, das darin vergossen worden, außer durch das Blut dessen, der es vergossen hat.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		ne polluatis terram habitationis vestræ, quæ insontium cruore maculatur: nec aliter expiari potest, nisi per ejus sanguinem, qui alterius sanguinem fuderit.