And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:
Parallel translations
- WEB and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood,
- BSB and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed
- NKJV and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood,
- NASB and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills him, he will not be guilty of bloodshed,
- NLT and the avenger finds him outside the city and kills him, it will not be considered murder.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If the avenger finds and kills the manslayer outside the refuge, he bears no bloodguilt. The killer's safety ended when he left the appointed place.
Overview
Should the manslayer leave the city and be slain by the avenger, no guilt attaches to the avenger. The law thus reinforces the seriousness of remaining within the divinely provided refuge and underscores the consequences of abandoning it. The contrast highlights the sufficiency and necessity of God's appointed means of safety, fulfilled ultimately in the refuge of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Exod 22:2If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
- Deut 19:6Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
- Deut 19:10That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 35:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.