Bible Strands
Numbers 35:17
Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Moses and the Israelite community to define capital murder within the legal framework surrounding the cities of refuge. The statute is positioned directly between rulings on iron instruments (Numbers 35:16) and wooden objects (Numbers 35:18).
The words — אֶ֣בֶן ('E.ven) literally means a stone, while רֹצֵ֣חַֽ (ro.Tze.ach) identifies the perpetrator as a killer.
The thread — This category of lethal violence runs parallel to the iron strike in Numbers 35:16, the wooden object in Numbers 35:18, and the quarrel-related stone impact in Exodus 21:18.
Why it lands — The text states that striking another with a deadly stone and causing death legally classifies the act as murder requiring execution. This requires the reader to recognize that lethal violence with an unmodified object carries the same capital penalty as violence with manufactured weapons.
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
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Exodus 21:18 If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed,