Numbers 35:33

33 "Don't pollute the land in which you live. Murder pollutes the land. The land can't be cleaned up of the blood of murder except through the blood of the murderer.

Numbers 35:33 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 35:33

So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are
The land of Canaan, as it had been by the old inhabitants of it, by idolatry, adultery, and murder:

for blood it defileth the land:
the shedding of innocent blood defiles a nation, and the inhabitants of it, brings guilt thereon, and subjects to punishment:

and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but
by the blood of him that shed it;
or "there can be no expiation" ^F2, or "atonement made" for it in any other way; the blood of the murderer is required at his hands, and nothing short of it will satisfy law and justice, see ( Genesis 9:6 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F2 (rpky al) "non posset expiatio", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; to the same sense Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version.

Numbers 35:33 In-Context

31 "Don't accept bribe money in exchange for the life of a murderer. He's guilty and deserves the death penalty. Put him to death.

32 "And don't accept bribe money for anyone who has fled to an asylum-city so as to permit him to go back and live in his own place before the death of the High Priest.

33 "Don't pollute the land in which you live. Murder pollutes the land. The land can't be cleaned up of the blood of murder except through the blood of the murderer.

34 "Don't desecrate the land in which you live. I live here too - I, God, live in the same neighborhood with the People of Israel."