Genesis 9:6

9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, ¹ 

by other humans ² 

must his blood be shed;

for in God’s image ³ 

God ⁴  has made humankind.”

Exodus 21:14

21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, ⁵  you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

Numbers 35:14-34

35:14 “You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. 35:15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.

35:16 “But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies, ⁶  he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 35:17 If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 35:18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 35:19 The avenger ⁷  of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him.

35:20 “But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally ⁸  so that he dies, 35:21 or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him.

35:22 “But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, 35:23 or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, 35:24 then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. 35:25 The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there ⁹  until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil. 35:26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, 35:27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the town of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he will not be guilty of blood, 35:28 because the slayer ¹⁰  should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions. 35:29 So these things must be a statutory ordinance ¹¹  for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live.

35:30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony ¹²  of witnesses; but one witness cannot ¹³  testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. 35:31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. 35:32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. ¹⁴ 

35:33 “You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 35:34 Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.”

Numbers 35:1

The Levitical Cities

35:1 ¹⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. ¹⁶  He said:

Numbers 21:19

21:19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;

Numbers 21:23

21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he ¹⁷  gathered all his forces ¹⁸  together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When ¹⁹  he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

Numbers 21:2

21:2 So Israel made a vow ²⁰  to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver ²¹  this people into our ²²  hand, then we will utterly destroy ²³  their cities.”

Numbers 9:1-2

Passover Regulations

9:1 ²⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out ²⁵  of the land of Egypt:

9:2 “The Israelites are to observe ²⁶  the Passover ²⁷  at its appointed time. ²⁸ 

Numbers 24:21-25

24:21 Then he looked on the Kenites and uttered this oracle:

“Your dwelling place seems strong,

and your nest ²⁹  is set on a rocky cliff.

24:22 Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed. ³⁰ 

How long will Asshur take you away captive?”

24:23 Then he uttered this oracle:

“O, who will survive when God does this! ³¹ 

24:24 Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, ³² 

and will afflict Asshur, ³³  and will afflict Eber,

and he will also perish forever.” ³⁴ 

24:25 Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home, ³⁵  and Balak also went his way.

Matthew 27:4-5

27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!” 27:5 So ³⁶  Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself.

Acts 28:4

28:4 When the local people ³⁷  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ³⁸  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ³⁹  has not allowed him to live!” ⁴⁰ 

[9:6]  ¹ tn Heb “the blood of man.”

[9:6]  ² tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.

[9:6]  ³ sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.

[9:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:14]  ⁵ tn The word עָרְמָה (’ormah) is problematic. It could mean with prior intent, which would be connected with the word in Prov 8:5, 12 which means “understanding” (or “prudence” – fully aware of the way things are). It could be connected also to an Arabic word for “enemy” which would indicate this was done with malice or evil intentions (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 270). The use here seems parallel to the one in Josh 9:4, an instance involving intentionality and clever deception.

[35:16]  ⁶ tn the verb is the preterite of “die.” The sentence has :“if…he strikes him and he dies.” The vav (ו) consecutive is showing the natural result of the blow.

[35:19]  ⁷ tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) is the one who protects the family by seeking vengeance for a crime. This is the same verb used for levirate marriages and other related customs.

[35:20]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text is more vivid: “by lying in wait.”

[35:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “in it.”

[35:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he.”

[35:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a statute of judgment” (so KJV).

[35:30]  ¹² tn Heb “ at the mouth of”; the metonymy stresses it is at their report.

[35:30]  ¹³ tn The verb should be given the nuance of imperfect of potentiality.

[35:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the priest.” The Greek and the Syriac have “high priest.” The present translation, along with many English versions, uses “high priest” as a clarification.

[35:1]  ¹⁵ sn This section has two main parts, the Levitical cities (vv. 1-8) and the Cities of Refuge (vv. 9-34).

[35:1]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[21:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Sihon.”

[21:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “people.”

[21:23]  ¹⁹ tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.

[21:2]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.

[21:2]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”

[21:2]  ²² tn Heb “my.”

[21:2]  ²³ tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.

[9:1]  ²⁴ sn The chapter has just the two sections, the observance of the Passover (vv. 1-14) and the cloud that led the Israelites in the wilderness (vv. 15-23). It must be remembered that the material in vv. 7-9 is chronologically earlier than vv. 1-6, as the notices in the text will make clear. The two main discussions here are the last major issues to be reiterated before dealing with the commencement of the journey.

[9:1]  ²⁵ tn The temporal clause is formed with the infinitive construct of יָצָא (yatsa’, “to go out; to leave”). This verse indicates that a full year had passed since the exodus and the original Passover; now a second ruling on the Passover is included at the beginning of the second year. This would have occurred immediately after the consecration of the tabernacle, in the month before the census at Sinai.

[9:2]  ²⁶ tn The verb is simply “to do; to make” (עָשָׂה [’asah] in the jussive). It must have the idea here of “to perform; to keep; to observe” the ritual of the Passover.

[9:2]  ²⁷ sn For a detailed study note on the Passover, see the discussion with the original institution in Exod 12. The word פֶּסַח (pesakh) – here in pause and with the article – has become the technical name for the spring festival of Israel. In Exod 12 the name is explained by the use of the verb “to pass over” (עָבַר, ’avar), indicating that the angel of death would pass over the house with the blood applied. Many scholarly attempts have been made to supply the etymology of the word, but none has been compelling enough to be accepted by a large number of biblical scholars. For general literature on the Passover, see J. B. Segal, The Hebrew Passover, as well as the Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias.

[9:2]  ²⁸ tc The Greek text uses a plural here but the singular in vv. 7 and 13; the Smr uses the plural in all three places.

[24:21]  ²⁹ sn A pun is made on the name Kenite by using the word “your nest” (קִנֶּךָ, qinnekha); the location may be the rocky cliffs overlooking Petra.

[24:22]  ³⁰ tc Heb “Nevertheless Cain will be wasted; how long will Asshur take you captive?” Cain was believed to be the ancestor of the Kenites. The NAB has “yet destined for burning, even as I watch, are your inhabitants.” Asshur may refer to a north Arabian group of people of Abrahamic stock (Gen 25:3), and not the Assyrian empire.

[24:23]  ³¹ tc Because there is no parallel line, some have thought that it dropped out (see de Vaulx, Les Nombres, 296).

[24:24]  ³² tc The MT is difficult. The Kittim refers normally to Cyprus, or any maritime people to the west. W. F. Albright proposed emending the line to “islands will gather in the north, ships from the distant sea” (“The Oracles of Balaam,” JBL 63 [1944]: 222-23). Some commentators accept that reading as the original state of the text, since the present MT makes little sense.

[24:24]  ³³ tn Or perhaps “Assyria” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[24:24]  ³⁴ tn Or “it will end in utter destruction.”

[24:25]  ³⁵ tn Heb “place.”

[27:5]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the leaders’ response to Judas.

[28:4]  ³⁷ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:4]  ³⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ³⁹ tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.

[28:4]  ⁴⁰ sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.