Passage

Numbers 35.16-21

Book: Numbers · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"14. Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge. 15. For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that every one that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither."

"16. But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 17. And if he smote him with a stone in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 18. Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 19. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death. 20. And if he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21. or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died; he that smote him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him."

"22. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without lying in wait, 23. or with any stone, whereby a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm;" (Numbers 35:14-23, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"14. You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. 15. For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the foreigner living among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there."

"16. “‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 17. If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 18. Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 19. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20. If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21. or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him."

"22. “‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, 23. or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm;" (Numbers 35:14-23, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"14. Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. 15. These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither."

"16. And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 17. And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. ^{with: Heb. with a stone of the hand} 18. Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 19. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. 20. But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die; 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."

"22. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, 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:" (Numbers 35:14-23, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"14. the three of the cities ye give beyond the Jordan, and the three of the cities ye give in the land of Canaan; cities of refuge they are. 15. To sons of Israel, and to a sojourner, and to a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing thither of any one smiting a person unawares."

"16. 'And if with an instrument of iron he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death. 17. 'And if with a stone [in] the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death. 18. 'Or with a wooden instrument [in] the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death. 19. 'The redeemer of blood himself doth put the murderer to death; in his coming against him he doth put him to death. 20. 'And if in hatred he thrust him through, or hath cast [anything] at him by lying in wait, and he dieth; 21. or in enmity he hath smitten him with his hand, and he dieth; the smiter is certainly put to death; he [is] a murderer; the redeemer of blood doth put the murderer to death in his coming against him."

"22. 'And if, in an instant, without enmity, he hath thrust him through, or hath cast at him any instrument, without lying in wait; 23. or with any stone wherewith he dieth, without seeing, and causeth [it] to fall upon him, and he dieth, and he [is] not his enemy, nor seeking his evil;" (Numbers 35:14-23, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.