Numbers 35:22

22 " 'But what if a person suddenly pushes someone else without being angry? Or what if that person throws something at him without meaning to?

Numbers 35:22 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 35:22

But if he thrust him suddenly, without enmity
Push him from a precipice, before he is aware, without any malicious design against his life, but merely through accident:

or have cast upon him anything;
from the top of a house, or from a building he is pulling down, or pushes a bowing wall upon him, not knowing that he is passing by it:

and without lying of wait:
or having contrived to do it, just as he goes along, or in any other similar way.

Numbers 35:22 In-Context

20 " 'What if a person makes evil plans against someone else? And what if that person pushes him so that he dies? Or what if that person throws something at him so that he dies?

21 Or what if that person hits the other person with a fist so that the other dies? Then the person who does any of those things must be put to death. He is a murderer. " 'The dead person's nearest male relative should kill the murderer. When he meets him, he should kill him.

22 " 'But what if a person suddenly pushes someone else without being angry? Or what if that person throws something at him without meaning to?

23 Or what if that person does not see him and drops a stone on him that kills him? He was not the dead person's enemy. He did not mean to harm him.

24 " 'Then the court must decide between the person who did the act and the nearest male relative of the one who was killed. Here are the rules the court must follow.