Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 35:34
Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
34. See note on Num 35:1-4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For I the Lord dwell … – An emphatic protest against all enactment or relaxation of laws by men for their own private convenience.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Be not cruel to your own land by making it a den of murderers.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inherit,…. By the commission of such atrocious crimes, or suffering them to go unpunished, or by taking a compensation for the life of the guilty person:
wherein I dwell; which is added to strengthen the exhortation, and as giving a reason why care should be taken not to pollute it, because the Holy God dwells there; as he did in the tabernacle erected for him, and in such a peculiar manner as he did not in other lands:
for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel; he now dwelt among them as their God, and their King; his tent or tabernacle being pitched in the midst of the camps of Israel; and so he would continue to dwell among them when they were come to the land of Canaan, so long as they observed his laws, statutes, and ordinances; and therefore it behoved them to be careful that they did not pollute themselves and their land, and cause him to depart from them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And they were not to desecrate the land in which they dwelt by tolerating murderers, because Jehovah, the Holy One, dwelt in it, among the children of Israel (cf. Lev 18:25.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
34. The land wherein I dwell The omnipresent Deity specially manifested his presence in Israel, and so sanctified their land. This was a special reason why the people might not pollute it. Exo 25:8; Num 5:3, notes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
Blessed be that HOLY SPIRIT, the Teacher of my soul, from whose influence I am enabled to look beyond the Levitical dispensation, in those cities of refuge, and behold in them the evident emblems of him, and his complete security, who shelters all that flee to him from the avenger of poor guilty sinners. Oh! thou dear Redeemer, may I be led by thy SPIRIT’s ministry continually to thee, and not stop short of the security thou hast afforded, in thy opened wounds, for the salvation of my soul. Neither shall I be in the danger which the people under the Levitical dispensation were exposed to, by the death of the High Priest; for thou blessed JESUS ever livest, and the efficacy of thy atonement is always the same.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Defile not = Defile thou not. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, Targum of Onkelos, The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “Defile ye not”.
wherein = in the midst of which.
among = in the midst of.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Defile not: Num 5:3, Lev 20:24-26
I dwell: Psa 135:21, Isa 57:15, Hos 9:3, 2Co 6:16, 2Co 6:17, Rev 21:3, Rev 21:27
dwell among: Num 5:3, Exo 25:8, Exo 29:45, Exo 29:46, 1Ki 6:13, Psa 132:14, Isa 8:12
Reciprocal: Lev 18:25 – the land Num 16:3 – the Lord Deu 19:13 – but thou Deu 21:23 – thy land 1Sa 2:30 – Be it far Isa 24:5 – defiled Jer 2:7 – ye defiled Jer 16:18 – they have defiled Jer 26:19 – Thus Eze 36:17 – they defiled Dan 2:11 – whose
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 35:34. Defile not the land wherein I dwell It is often assigned as a reason why they should put away all polluted persons and things out of their camp and land, because God dwelt in them, by his peculiar presence, whence this land was called the Holy Land. It is the case of all crimes, that they defile the land in which they are committed, and render it odious and unclean in the sight of God; but it is more especially true of murder, which is the highest of all injuries against human society, and against God, in whose image man was created.