Numbers 35:21

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Numbers 35:21 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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Numbers 35:21 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/numbers/35/21.

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or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.
World English Bible · Public Domain
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    or if with hostility he strikes him down with his hand, and he dies, you shall certainly put to death the one who strikes down; he is one who murders. The avenger of blood shall put to death the one who murders, when he meets him.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died; he that smote him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    or in enmity smote him with his hand, that he died: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; he is a manslayer: the avenger of blood shall put the manslayer to death, when he meeteth him.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    Or smite him through enimitie with his hand, that he die, he that smote him shall die ye death: for hee is a murtherer: the reuenger of the blood shall slay the murtherer when he meeteth him.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    Or being his enemy, strike; him with his hand, and he die: the striker shall be guilty of murder: the kinsman of him that was slain as soon as he findeth him, shall kill him.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    or in enmity he hath smitten him with his hand, and he dieth; the smiter is certainly put to death; he `is' a murderer; the redeemer of blood doth put the murderer to death in his coming against him.
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    or he has struck him with his hand in enmity, and he dies, the striker is certainly put to death; he [is] a murderer; the redeemer of blood puts the murderer to death in his coming against him.
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    or if he strikes him down in hatred with his hand so that the victim dies, then the accused who struck him must surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death when he meets him.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    or if with hostility he strikes him down with his hand, and he dies, you shall certainly put to death the one who strikes down; he is one who murders. The avenger of blood shall put to death the one who murders, when he meets him.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    or from enmity smite him with his hand, so that he die, he that smote him shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him. --
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    Or in enmity shall smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    or if someone hits another with his hand and they die, the one who hit him must be executed because he is a murderer. When the avenger finds the murderer, he is to kill him.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    Or in hate gave him blows with his hand, causing death; he who gave the death-blow is to be put to death; he is a taker of life: he whose right it is to give punishment for blood may put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    or in enmity smote him with his hand, that he died; he that smote him shall surely be put to death: he is a murderer; the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meeteth him.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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בְאֵיבָ֞ה
ʼêybâh
H342
“in/at · enmity”
Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
Part of Speech
Preposition + Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Feminine
Number
Singular
State
Absolute
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H340

TWOT: 78a

enmity, hatred
  1. א֣וֹ ʼôw H176 “or” Conjunction
  2. הִכָּ֤הוּ nâkâh H5221 “to strike · him” Verb, Hiphil, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  3. בְיָדוֹ֙ yâd H3027 “in/at · hand · his” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  4. וַיָּמֹ֔ת mûwth H4191 “and · to die” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  5. מֽוֹת mûwth H4191 “to die” Verb, Qal, Infinitive Absolute
  6. יוּמַ֥ת mûwth H4191 “to die” Verb, Hophal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  7. הַמַּכֶּ֖ה nâkâh H5221 “the · striking” Particle, Definite Article + Verb, Hiphil, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  8. רֹצֵ֣חַֽ râtsach H7523 “murdering” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  9. ה֑וּא hûwʼ H1931 “he” Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  10. גֹּאֵ֣ל gâʼal H1350 “redeeming” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  11. הַדָּ֗ם dâm H1818 “the · blood” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  12. יָמִ֛ית mûwth H4191 “to die” Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  13. אֶת ʼêth H853 “-” Particle, Direct Object
  14. הָרֹצֵ֖חַ râtsach H7523 “the · murdering” Particle, Definite Article + Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  15. בְּפִגְעוֹ pâgaʻ H6293 “in/at · to meet · him” Preposition + Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

17
words
11
distinct lemmas
Pentateuch
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is בְאֵיבָ֞ה enmity H342 — appearing just 5 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

בְאֵיבָ֞ה enmity H342 occurs in 5 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 10 verbs
  • 3 nouns
  • 1 pronoun
  • 1 preposition
  • 1 conjunction
  • 1 particle

Verb forms

  • הִכָּ֤הוּ Hiphil · Perfect
  • וַיָּמֹ֔ת Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • מֽוֹת Qal · Infinitive Absolute
  • יוּמַ֥ת Hophal · Imperfect
  • הַמַּכֶּ֖ה Hiphil · Participle Active
  • רֹצֵ֣חַֽ Qal · Participle Active
  • גֹּאֵ֣ל Qal · Participle Active
  • יָמִ֛ית Hiphil · Imperfect
  • הָרֹצֵ֖חַ Qal · Participle Active
  • בְּפִגְעוֹ Qal · Infinitive Construct

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • וַיָּמֹ֔ת to die H4191 ×4
  • הִכָּ֤הוּ to strike H5221 ×2
  • רֹצֵ֣חַֽ to murder H7523 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 40 words from the Hebrew and 55 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 17 Hebrew tokens and 30 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Numbers 35:21 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

א֣וֹ בְאֵיבָ֞ה הִכָּ֤הוּ בְיָדוֹ֙ וַיָּמֹ֔ת מֽוֹת יוּמַ֥ת הַמַּכֶּ֖ה רֹצֵ֣חַֽ ה֑וּא גֹּאֵ֣ל הַדָּ֗ם יָמִ֛ית אֶת הָרֹצֵ֖חַ בְּפִגְעוֹ בֽוֹ

or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 35:21 Septuagint · lemma form

ἤ διά μῆνις πατάσσω αὐτός ὁ χείρ καί ἀποθνήσκω θάνατος θανατόω ὁ πατάσσω φονευτής εἰμί θάνατος θανατόω ὁ φονεύω ὁ ἀγχιστεύω ὁ αἷμα ἀποκτείνω ὁ φονεύω ἐν ὁ συνἀντάω αὐτός

or if he have struck him with his hand through anger, and the man should die, let the man that struck him be put to death by all means, he is a murderer: let the murderer by all means be put to death: the avenger of blood shall kill the murderer when he meets him.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

2

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
    אוֹ בִדְבָבוּ מְחָהִי בִידֵהּ וְקָטְלֵהּ אִתְקְטָלָא יִתְקְטֵל מַחְיָא קָטוֹלָא הוּא גָאֵל דְמָא יִקְטוֹל יָת קָטוֹלָא כַּד אִתְחַיֵב לֵיהּ מִן דִינָא

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

  2. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
    אוֹ נְטַר לֵיהּ בָּבוּי וּמְחוֹהִי בִּידֵיהּ וְקַטְלֵיהּ קָטוֹלָא הוּא אִיתְקְטָלָא יִתְקְטֵיל קָטוֹלָא הוּא תְּבַע אַדְמָא יִקְטוֹל יַת קָטוֹלָא כַּד אִתְחְיַיב לֵיהּ

    or cherishing enmity had struck him with his hand and killed him; he is a murderer; dying he shall die. The avenger of blood may slay the homicide when he hath been condemned.

    Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Numbers 35:21 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Num 35:21 Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote [him] shall surely be put to death; [for] he [is] a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.

Ver. 21. He shall surely be put to death.] And yet the Papists allow wilful murderers also to take sanctuary; who should, as Joab was, be taken from the altar to the slaughter. Their hatred to Protestants is so deadly, that they hold us unworthy to live on God’s ground, fit for nothing but fire and faggot; yea, they send us to hell without bail or surety, as worse than Turks or Jews. They tell the people, that Geneva is a professed sanctuary of all roguery; that in England the people are grown barbarous, and eat young children, that they are as black as devils, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die,.... Give him a blow with his fist, on some part of his body where life is most in danger, and which issues in death:

he that smote him shall surely be put to death, for he is a murderer; and therefore, according to the original law, ought to die, without reprieve or pardon; and notwithstanding this law made for cities of refuge, which were to be denied him:

the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer when he meeteth him: that is, when he is condemned, as both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan interpret it, after a hearing and trial of his case.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Kill him. It seems, when the case was evident, he was not only permitted, but commanded to punish the criminal. (Bonfrere) (Deuteronomy xix. 12.) (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 17 words (11 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ʼêybâh (“enmity”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. The word ʼêybâh carries the sense “enmity.” How does it shape the verse?
  2. How does Genesis 3:15, which shares the word «enmity», read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “to die” (4× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  4. These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
  5. «הִכָּ֤הוּ» is a Hiphil Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and John Gill's Exposition read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

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