Numbers 35:16

16 '¹But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

Numbers 35:16 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 35:16

And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he
die
As with an hatchet, hammer, sword, knife, &c.

he is a murderer;
the instrument used by him, and with which he smote, shows that he had a bad design, and intended to kill, or he would never have smitten a man with such an instrument:

the murderer shall surely be put to death;
be condemned to death, and be executed, by the order of the civil magistrate, according to the law in ( Genesis 9:6 ) and not be allowed the benefit of a city of refuge.

Numbers 35:16 In-Context

14 'You shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge.

15 'These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel, and for the alien and for the sojourner among them; that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

16 'But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

17 'If he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

18 'Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he might die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 21:12, 14; Leviticus 24:17