Bible Strands
Numbers 35:31
You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks through Moses to the Israelite community during the wilderness period, establishing judicial protocols for the settled land. The command addresses judges and tribal leaders regarding the administration of capital punishment.
The words — The Hebrew כֹּפֶר (kopher) means a ransom or redemption price, and רֹצֵחַ (roṣeaḥ) refers specifically to a deliberate killer. The text explicitly commands the rejection of any financial compensation to commute the execution of a guilty murderer.
The thread — This prohibition against blood-money aligns with Genesis 9:5, which demands strict accountability for shed blood, and Deuteronomy 19:11, which separates willful homicide from accidental flight to a city of refuge. Exodus 21:14 reinforces that deliberate murder forfeits all claims to sanctuary or mitigation.
Why it lands — The verse requires judicial systems to treat intentional homicide as a capital offense that cannot be purchased or negotiated. It demands that readers uphold the fixed boundary between life and death by refusing to replace mandated justice with financial settlement.
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
Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.
Cross-references
- 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 21:14 But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.
- 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,
- 2 Samuel 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
- 1 Kings 2:28 When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar.
- Psalms 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.