Numbers 35:32

32 'You shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest.

Numbers 35:32 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 35:32

Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled
to the city of his refuge
Though for killing a man unawares:

that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the
priest;
the high priest; such a man's liberty was not to be purchased with money, nor even his life to be bought off, should he be taken without his city; a great ransom could not deliver him from the avenger, because he was guilty of this law, which so wisely and mercifully provided for him; and consequently guilty also of great ingratitude to God, as well as of a breach of his law, and of disrespect to his high priest, under whom he was protected.

Numbers 35:32 In-Context

30 'If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

31 'Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.

32 'You shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest.

33 'So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.

34 'You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.' "

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "until"