Num 35:12-18 | TNotes | STEP | 35:12 protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death: Justice was enacted through vengeance at the hand of a designated avenger, usually a relative.

a35:12►

b35:15-24►

c35:11►

d22-23►

eExod 21:12-14►

fNum 15:22-31►

g35:15►

hLev 19:15►

iDeut 1:16-17►

j1 Tim 5:21►

kJas 2:2-4►

‏ Numbers 35:12-18

35:12 ^a protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death: Justice was enacted through vengeance at the hand of a designated avenger, usually a relative.
Summary for Num 35:15-24: 35:15-24 ^b The Old Testament makes a clear distinction between deliberate murder and involuntary manslaughter (35:11 ^c, 22-23 ^d; Exod 21:12-14 ^e; cp. Num 15:22-31 ^f). Murder required a penalty of execution, but an accidental death did not. The cities of refuge provided protection only for those who killed another person by accident.

• The use of a weapon was proof of malicious intent. 35:15 ^g Israelites, foreigners living among you, and traveling merchants. Anyone: The same law applied impartially to everyone; Israel had one standard of justice, not two (one for citizens, another for noncitizens), as in many societies (see also Lev 19:15 ^h; Deut 1:16-17 ⁱ; 1 Tim 5:21 ^j; Jas 2:2-4 ^k).