Numbers 35:16

If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God instructs the Israelites through Moses on the administration of the cities of refuge, establishing the legal boundary between accidental homicide and intentional killing.

The words — The terms בַרְזֶל (barzel), meaning iron, and רֹצֵחַ (ro'tzeach), meaning murderer, specify the lethal instrument and the perpetrator's legal classification.

The thread — The mandate for capital punishment in intentional killing cases appears in Exodus 21:12 and Leviticus 24:17, while Genesis 9:5 establishes that God will demand an accounting for any shed blood.

Why it lands — The text states that striking a person to death with a weapon like iron legally constitutes murder, requiring the death penalty, and demands the reader apply this objective standard to distinguish intent from accident.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאִם־ve./'im-and/ if בִּכְלִ֨יbi/kh.Liwith/ an instrument of בַרְזֶ֧ל׀var.Zeliron הִכָּ֛הוּhi.Ka./huhe struck down/ him וַיָּמֹ֖תva/i.ya.Motand/ he died רֹצֵ֣חַֽro.Tze.ach[is] a killer ה֑וּאHu'he מ֥וֹתMotcertainly <to die>יוּמַ֖תyu.Mathe will be put to death הָרֹצֵֽחַ׃ha./ro.Tze.achthe/ killer

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Leviticus 24:17 And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.
Genesis 9:5 And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
Exodus 21:12 Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
Numbers 35:22 But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,
Numbers 35:30 If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness.
Deuteronomy 19:11 If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,