Numbers 35:17

17 Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

Numbers 35:17 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 35:17

And if he smite him with throwing a stone
"Or with a stone of the hand" ^F17, which the Jews interpret of a stone so big as to fill a man's hand, and so

wherewith he may die;
at whom it is thrown; is sufficient to cause his death, if struck with it; so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it of a

``stone of fulness of hands, which is sufficient that a man may die with it,''

or be killed by it:

and he die;
by the blow he receives from it, either immediately or in a short time after:

he is a murderer, and the murderer shall surely be put to death;
as in the above case.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (dy Nbab) .

Numbers 35:17 In-Context

15 These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

16 If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

17 Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

18 If anyone has in his hand a deadly object of wood, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

19 The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.