Bible Strands
Numbers 35:34
Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel through Moses immediately after establishing the city of refuge and the requirement of capital punishment for murder. The command concludes the section on land pollution caused by unatoned bloodshed.
The words — תְטַמּ֣א (teṭamme') means "you will make unclean" or "defile," directed at הָ/אָ֗רֶץ (ha'arets), "the land." The phrase אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם יֹשְׁבִים (asher attem yoshev'im) translates literally to "which you are dwelling in."
The thread — The warning against defiling the inhabited land parallels the command to remove defiled individuals outside the camp so God's dwelling place remains clean (Numbers 5:3). It aligns with the biblical pattern that God's presence requires separation from impurity, as noted in Psalms 135:21 and Revelation 21:27.
Why it lands — The text states that Israel must not defile their territory because Yahweh dwells among them. It requires readers to acknowledge that collective moral failure directly contaminates the space designated for divine presence.
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
Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.
Cross-references
- Numbers 5:3 You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”
- Psalms 135:21 Blessed be the LORD from Zion—He who dwells in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
- Revelation 21:27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
- Exodus 25:8 And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
- Exodus 29:45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.
- Leviticus 20:24 But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.
- 1 Kings 6:13 And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”
- Psalms 132:14 “This is My resting place forever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have desired this home.
- Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.