Numbers 35:33

Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses the Israelites through Moses regarding the administration of justice for intentional homicide within the territory allotted to the tribes.

The words — The verb תַחֲנִ֣יפוּ (taḥănîpû) literally means to defile or pollute, applied directly to the land (הָ/אָ֗רֶץ, ha’āreṣ) by the shedding of blood (הַ/דָּ֔ם, haḏām).

The thread — The requirement that unatoned bloodshed demands a blood penalty appears in Genesis 9:6, while Psalm 106:38 records Israel’s own defilement of the land through innocent bloodshed, and Luke 11:50 extends the principle to generational accountability.

Why it lands — The text demands strict judicial execution for murder as the sole means of land atonement, treating unatoned bloodshed as a tangible defilement that requires direct, proportional accountability.

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

So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

Cross-references

Luke 11:50 As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,
Psalms 106:38 They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.
Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
Isaiah 26:21 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
Leviticus 18:25 Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
Ezekiel 22:24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’
Hosea 4:2 Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
Matthew 23:31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.
2 Kings 23:26 Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the fury of His burning anger, which was kindled against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke Him to anger.
2 Kings 24:4 and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.