Numbers35:9–34

Where the English smooths the original

• וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר BSB's “said” renders way·ḏab·bêr (H1696), from dâbar, “to arrange, to speak.” The verb that opens a fresh body of legislation carries an ordering, decreeing weight; the flat “said” drops it. Gill marks the seam: the LORD here “continued his speech unto him.”
• לֵּאמֹֽר׃ The closing lê·mōr (H559), “saying,” a Qal infinitive construct, is the Hebrew quotation-opener that frames the whole law of refuge (vv. 10–34) as direct divine speech. BSB renders it only as the trailing comma, dropping the frame.

Where the English smooths the original

• עֹבְרִ֥ים BSB's past-tense “When you cross” flattens ‘ō·ḇə·rîm (H5674), an active participle — “crossing over.” Ellicott restores the live sense: “Ye are going over the Jordan.” The law is given on the brink, with the river still ahead.
• בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל BSB's “the Israelites” compresses bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl (H1121 + H3478), literally “the sons of Israel” — the kinship idiom that matters here, since the whole law turns on the kinsman-redeemer and the family's blood.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְהִקְרִיתֶ֤ם BSB's “designate” renders wə·hiq·rî·ṯem (H7136), from qârâh, “to light upon, to meet by chance.” Cambridge: “Perhaps better ye shall select. The verb in this sense is not found elsewhere in the O.T.” Keil insists it means “to choose something suitable,” not “to build.” A coined legal term, almost untranslatable.
• מִקְלָ֖ט “Refuge” renders miq·lāṭ (H4733), a word found only in this chapter, Joshua 20–21, and Chronicles. Cambridge: “Perhaps cities of reception… used in Rabbinic Heb. of the collection or reception of rainwater.” A reservoir for fugitives — a rare, technical term, which is why its recurrence anchors the verbal threads to Joshua.
• בִּשְׁגָגָֽה BSB's “unintentionally” renders biš·ḡā·ḡāh (H7684), shᵉgâgâh, an inadvertent transgression. Cambridge: “lit. ‘in error.’” Poole: “not wilfully… but inconsiderately, through mistake, or indiscretion, or carelessness.” The whole hinge of the law is in this one rare word.

Where the English smooths the original

• מִגֹּאֵ֑ל BSB's “avenger” renders gō·’êl (H1350), the participle of gâʼal, whose root sense is redeemer / next-of-kin. Ellicott: “The avenger (Heb., goel ) was the near kinsman whose office it was to redeem the person or inheritance of his kinsman… and also to avenge his blood.” One Hebrew word holds two ideas English keeps apart — and the same word names God our Redeemer (Job 19:25).
• הָעֵדָ֖ה “The assembly” renders hā·‘ê·ḏāh (H5712), ‘êdâh. The Pulpit Commentary argues it means the whole “congregation… the whole nation as gathered together,” not the local elders of Joshua 20:4 — a disputed point the English “assembly” conceals.

Where the English smooths the original

• תִּתֵּ֑נוּ BSB's “select” renders tit·tê·nū (H5414), nâthan, “to give.” The cities are not merely chosen but given — carved out of the Levites' own forty-eight towns (v. 7). Gill: this “makes it clear, that not all the forty eight cities were for refuge, only six of them.”
• שֵׁשׁ־ BSB renders the number šêš (H8337), “six,” straightforwardly, but its placement is emphatic in Hebrew: of the whole Levitical grant, exactly six bear this function — three each side of the Jordan (v. 14).

Where the English smooths the original

• מֵעֵ֣בֶר BSB's “across the Jordan” renders mê·‘ê·ḇer (H5676), “the region across / on the other side.” Ellicott warns the word is “applicable equally to the cities on the east and to those on the west”; only “in the land of Canaan” fixes its sense here — the English “across” reads in a direction the bare Hebrew leaves open.
• שְׁלֹ֣שׁ … שְׁלֹ֣שׁ The doubled šə·lōš (H7969), three … three, is a deliberate symmetry the BSB keeps but does not foreground: a balanced east/west provision so that, as Ellicott notes, “no one should be above thirty miles from the nearest city of refuge.”

Where the English smooths the original

• וְלַגֵּ֤ר BSB's “foreigner” renders wə·lag·gêr (H1616), gêr. Ellicott: it “properly denotes a foreigner who took up a temporary abode amongst the Israelites.” The protection is not a religious privilege but a common right.
• וְלַתּוֹשָׁב֙ BSB's “stranger” renders wə·lat·tō·wō·šāḇ (H8453), tôshâb — distinct from gêr. Ellicott: “toshab, ‘sojourner,’ denotes one who was settled in Israel.” Two different statuses are flattened into near-synonyms; Poole insists the right extends to “not the proselyte only, but all strangers.”

Where the English smooths the original

• בַרְזֶ֧ל BSB's “iron object” renders ḇar·zel (H1270), iron. The Pulpit Commentary: “There is no reasonable doubt that בַּרְיֶל has here (as elsewhere) its proper meaning of iron.” The instrument is named first because it betrays intent — Keil: “the suspicion would rest upon any one who had used an instrument… that he had intended to take life away.”
• מ֥וֹת יוּמַ֖ת BSB's “must surely be put to death” renders the infinitive-absolute construction mō·wṯ yū·maṯ (H4191), literally “dying he shall be put to death” — a Hebrew doubling for absolute certainty of sentence, recurring as a refrain through vv. 16–21 and 31.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּאֶ֣בֶן יָמ֨וּת בָּ֥הּ BSB's smooth “a stone of deadly size” renders, more literally, bə·’e·ḇen … yā·mūṯ bāh (H68 + H4191) — “with a stone of the hand, by which one may die.” Cambridge: “a stone held in the hand.” Pulpit: “a stone which is suitable for striking or throwing, and apt to inflict a mortal wound.” The test is the stone's lethal capacity, not merely its size.
• יָד֩ … בְּאֶ֣בֶן The Hebrew idiom ’ă·šer bə·’e·ḇen ties the stone to the hand. Ellicott: “a stone held in the hand, whether thrown or used.” BSB drops the hand entirely; the original keeps the picture of a hand deliberately gripping a killing weight.

Where the English smooths the original

• בִּכְלִ֣י עֵֽץ־ BSB's “deadly object of wood” renders biḵ·lî ‘êṣ (H3627 + H6086), “a hand-instrument of wood” — a club. The Pulpit Commentary: “A club, or other such formidable instrument.” Benson draws the principle from the three weapons together: “It made no difference with what kind of weapon he was killed, whether it was of iron, wood, or stone.”
• בּ֥וֹ … יָמ֨וּת As with the stone, the qualifying clause yā·mūṯ … bōw (H4191) — “by which one may die” — is the legal hinge: the wood must be of a kind that can kill. BSB folds this into the single adjective “deadly,” losing the case-law precision.

Where the English smooths the original

• גֹּאֵ֣ל הַדָּ֔ם BSB's “avenger of blood” renders gō·’êl had·dām (H1350 + H1818), literally “redeemer of the blood.” The redeemer who buys back land and kinsman (Lev 25) is the same office that buys back shed blood by the death of the shedder — the dark side of the same word.
• בְּפִגְעוֹ־ BSB's “when he finds him” renders bə·p̄iḡ·‘ōw (H6293), pâga‘, “to meet, to fall upon.” Barnes and the Pulpit fix the unstated condition: “When he meeteth him… outside a city of refuge.” The verse is not licence to hunt the man down inside the city, but a chance encounter beyond its walls.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּשִׂנְאָ֖ה BSB's “maliciously” renders bə·śin·’āh (H8135), plainly “in hatred.” The Hebrew names the inward motive directly; the abstract “maliciously” generalizes what the original makes a settled emotion — the antithesis of the “without enmity” of v. 22.
• בִּצְדִיָּ֖ה BSB's “intentionally” renders biṣ·ḏî·yāh (H6660), a rare noun meaning lying-in-wait, premeditation. Cambridge glosses the verb of pushing as “e.g. over a cliff, or off the roof of a house.” The word marks ambush, not mere intent — the calculated lie-in-wait that proves murder.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְאֵיבָ֞ה BSB's “in hostility” renders ḇə·’ê·ḇāh (H342), ’êybâh — a rare noun, enmity, found in only five verses of the whole Hebrew Bible. It is the very word God set “between you and the woman” in Genesis 3:15; here it is the human enmity that makes a bare hand a murder-weapon.
• הַמַּכֶּ֖ה BSB's “the one who struck him” renders ham·mak·keh (H5221), the participle the striker. The same striking-verb that the city forgives in the accidental case (v. 22) here, joined to ’êybâh, becomes a capital crime — the motive, not the act, decides.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּפֶ֥תַע BSB's “suddenly” renders bə·p̄e·ṯa‘ (H6621), “in an instant, unawares.” Poole: “through sudden passion or provocation. Or, by chance , or unawares .” Keil sets it beside Deuteronomy's parallel, “without knowing unintentionally.” The whole mercy of the chapter turns on this adverb.
• בְּלֹא־ אֵיבָ֖ה BSB's “without hostility” renders bə·lō- ’ê·ḇāh (H3808 + H342) — the explicit negation of the ’êybâh (enmity) of v. 21. The same rare word that condemned the murderer here, negated, acquits the manslayer. The two cases are deliberate mirror-images.

Where the English smooths the original

• בְּלֹ֣א רְא֔וֹת BSB's “without looking” renders bə·lō rə·’ō·wṯ (H3808 + H7200), literally “without seeing.” Gill draws the Rabbinic inference: “a blind man is to be acquitted… and so stands in no need of a city of refuge.” Not-seeing is the visible token of no-intent.
• וַיַּפֵּ֥ל BSB's “drops” renders way·yap·pêl (H5307), Hiphil of nâphal, “caused to fall.” Keil notes the writer changed construction mid-sentence — having begun with throw (v. 22), he “dropped this word, and wrote ויּפּל,” a grammatical seam the smooth English erases.
• אוֹיֵ֣ב ל֔וֹ … מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ רָעָתֽוֹ BSB's “was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him” renders ’ō·w·yêḇ … mə·ḇaq·qêš rā·‘ā·ṯōw (H341 + H1245 + H7451) — “not his enemy, neither seeking his harm.” Two clauses establish, by negation, the manslayer's innocent heart; this is the positive content the city protects.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְשָֽׁפְטוּ֙ BSB's “must judge” renders wə·šā·p̄ə·ṭū (H8199), shâphat — the formal act of rendering a verdict. The accidental slayer is not simply sheltered; his case is tried. Barnes: “In a doubtful case there would necessarily have to be a judicial decision.”
• הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֖ים BSB's “these ordinances” renders ham·miš·pā·ṭîm (H4941), “these judgments.” Cambridge: the court is “guided by the foregoing specimen cases,” the very test-cases of vv. 16–23 — case-law, like the “Judgements” of Exodus 21.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְהִצִּ֨ילוּ BSB's “is to protect” renders wə·hiṣ·ṣî·lū (H5337), nâtsal, “to snatch away, to deliver / rescue.” The innocent man is plucked from the redeemer's hand — a rescue verb, not a passive protection.
• עַד־ מוֹת֙ … הַגָּדֹ֔ל הַכֹּהֵ֣ן BSB's “until the death of the high priest” renders ‘aḏ mō·wṯ … hag·gā·ḏōl hak·kō·hên (H5704 + H4194 + H1419 + H3548), literally “until the death of the great priest.” Cambridge: “lit. ‘the great priest.’” This single date — one man's death — sets every exile free, the detail every commentator reads toward the cross.
• מָשַׁ֥ח … הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ בְּשֶׁ֥מֶן BSB's “anointed with the holy oil” renders mā·šaḥ … bə·še·men haq·qō·ḏeš (H4886 + H8081 + H6944). The high priest's release-power is tied to his anointing — the same root behind Messiah. Ellicott makes the link explicit: his death “became a type of that of the great High Priest.”

Where the English smooths the original

• יָצֹ֥א יֵצֵ֖א BSB's “ever goes outside” renders the infinitive-absolute yā·ṣō yê·ṣê (H3318), literally “going out he goes out.” The Hebrew doubling stresses any willful crossing of the line — the same intensifying construction as the death-sentence refrain, here marking the manslayer's own fatal choice.
• גְּבוּל֙ BSB's “the limits” renders gə·ḇūl (H1366), “border, boundary.” Gill ties it to the city's three-thousand-cubit precinct; the Rabbinic ruling he cites: “he shall abide in it,” but the boundary itself is not refuge — step past it and the protection ends.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְרָצַ֞ח BSB's “kills him” renders wə·rā·ṣaḥ (H7523) — the very verb râtsach used throughout for murder, here applied to the redeemer's lawful killing. The Hebrew refuses to pretend the act is anything but a killing; it is the place (outside the border), not a softer word, that makes it guiltless.
• אֵ֥ין ל֖וֹ דָּֽם BSB's “will not be guilty of bloodshed” renders ’ên lōw dām (H369 + H1818), literally “there is no blood to him.” Benson sharpens the limit: “Not liable to punishment from men, though not free of guilt before God.” The idiom clears the redeemer at law without declaring him innocent in heaven.

Where the English smooths the original

• יֵשֵׁ֔ב BSB's “must remain” renders yê·šêḇ (H3427), yâshab, “to sit, to dwell, to remain.” The same verb of dwelling (v. 25) is the manslayer's whole sentence: not labour, not death, but enforced staying. Gill: it “carried in it some appearance of a punishment.”
• אֶ֖רֶץ אֲחֻזָּתֽוֹ BSB's “the land he owns” renders ’e·reṣ ’ă·ḥuz·zā·ṯōw (H776 + H272), “the land of his possession / holding.” Keil: his “hereditary possession.” The high priest's death restores not just liberty but inheritance — homeland, tribe, family land.

Where the English smooths the original

• לְחֻקַּ֥ת מִשְׁפָּ֖ט BSB's “a statutory ordinance” renders lə·ḥuq·qaṯ miš·pāṭ (H2708 + H4941), a paired construct — “a statute of judgment.” Geneva: “A law to judge murders done either on purpose, or accidentally.” Two legal words bound together: a fixed decree (chuqqâh) governing the rendering of verdicts (mishpât).
• מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶֽם BSB's “wherever you live” renders mō·wō·šə·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem (H4186), “in all your dwellings / settlements.” The law is not bound to the sanctuary or to one place; it follows Israel into every habitation, a permanent feature of national life.

Where the English smooths the original

• לְפִ֣י עֵדִ֔ים BSB's “on the testimony of the witnesses” renders lə·p̄î ‘ê·ḏîm (H6310 + H5707), literally “by the mouth of witnesses” (plural). Barnes and the Pulpit fix the number: “i. e. two witnesses, at the least.” The Hebrew plural is itself the guard against a single false accuser.
• וְעֵ֣ד אֶחָ֔ד BSB's “a lone witness” renders wə·‘êḏ ’e·ḥāḏ (H5707 + H259), “one witness.” Cambridge: this “re-enforces the law of Deuteronomy 17:6,” the rule Christ Himself invokes (Matthew 18:16). No life is forfeit on one tongue.

Where the English smooths the original

• כֹ֙פֶר֙ BSB's “ransom” renders ḵō·p̄er (H3724), kôpher — a ransom-price, a covering / atonement-money. Barnes: “Rather, ransom.” The same root underlies kippur (atonement). No price may cover a murderer's life — the one debt money cannot pay.
• רָשָׁ֖ע לָמ֑וּת BSB's “who deserves to die” renders rā·šā‘ lā·mūṯ (H7563 + H4191), “wicked / guilty, to die.” Geneva: “Who purposely committed murder.” The verse closes the murderer's file: the death-refrain mō·wṯ yū·māṯ returns, sealing that no commutation is possible.

Where the English smooths the original

• כֹ֔פֶר BSB's “ransom” again renders ḵō·p̄er (H3724). The prohibition now reaches the innocent manslayer too: even his exile may not be bought off early. Poole reads the chapter's deepest sign here — God thereby signifies “the absolute and indispensable necessity of Christ’s death to expiate sin.”
• לָשׁוּב֙ לָשֶׁ֣בֶת BSB's “allow him to return and live” renders the paired infinitives lā·šūḇ lā·še·ḇeṯ (H7725 + H3427) — “to return, to dwell.” The release the money would purchase is precisely homecoming; and only one death, not silver, can grant it (v. 32 end).

Where the English smooths the original

• תַחֲנִ֣יפוּ BSB's “pollute” renders ṯa·ḥă·nî·p̄ū (H2610), chânêph, “to make profane / godless, to pollute.” The land is not merely dirtied but made faithless; Henry, across the unit, calls it: “Murder… pollutes a land.”
• לֹֽא־ יְכֻפַּ֗ר BSB's “no atonement can be made” renders lō yə·ḵup·par (H3808 + H3722), Pual of kâphar — “it cannot be covered / atoned.” The Pulpit Commentary glosses it literally: “there is no expiation” for the land. The same root as kôpher (v. 31): no covering-price works except the one named.
• כִּי־ אִ֖ם בְּדַ֥ם שֹׁפְכֽוֹ BSB's “except by the blood of the one who shed it” renders kî ’im bə·ḏam šō·p̄ə·ḵōw (H1818 + H8210). The land's defilement is undone only by the shedder's own blood — the principle of Genesis 9:6 restated. Keil: “through the execution of the murderer, by which justice would be satisfied.”

Where the English smooths the original

• תְטַמֵּ֣א BSB's “defile” renders ṯə·ṭam·mê (H2930), tâmê’ — the priestly word for ritual uncleanness, distinct from v. 33's chânêph (pollute). The land can be made unclean like a leprous body; murder is a defilement that touches the sanctuary itself.
• שֹׁכֵ֣ן בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ BSB's “where I dwell” renders šō·ḵên bə·ṯō·w·ḵāh (H7931 + H8432), “dwelling in the midst of it.” The verb šâkan is the shekinah-root. The final ground of the whole law is not justice in the abstract but the LORD's residence among His people — repeated twice for weight.