Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 35:22
But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait,
Suddenly; through sudden passion or provocation. Or, by chance, or unawares.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22-28. But if he thrust him suddenlywithout enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying ofwait, c.Under the excitement of a sudden provocation, orviolent passion, an injury might be inflicted issuing in death andfor a person who had thus undesignedly committed slaughter, theLevitical cities offered the benefit of full protection. Once havingreached the nearest, for one or other of them was within a day’sjourney of all parts of the land, he was secure. But he had to “abidein it.” His confinement within its walls was a wise and salutaryrule, designed to show the sanctity of human blood in God’s sight, aswell as to protect the manslayer himself, whose presence andintercourse in society might have provoked the passions of thedeceased’s relatives. But the period of his release from thisconfinement was not until the death of the high priest. That was aseason of public affliction, when private sorrows were sunk oroverlooked under a sense of the national calamity, and when the deathof so eminent a servant of God naturally led all to seriousconsideration about their own mortality. The moment, however, thatthe refugee broke through the restraints of his confinement andventured beyond the precincts of the asylum, he forfeited theprivilege, and, if he was discovered by his pursuer, he might beslain with impunity.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 22-28:
One who committed manslaughter without premeditation or malice was allowed to flee to a City of Refuge. There he could present his case before the “congregation,” or representatives of the people (magistrates). If found innocent of premeditated murder, the slayer was permitted to live within the borders of the city where he found refuge. The “revenger of blood” was not allowed to harm him. He could live in safety in that city until the death of the high priest; whereupon he could return to his ancestral home, free from the threat of death at the hand of the “revenger of blood.” If the slayer strayed outside of the borders of the city, the “revenger of blood” was allowed to execute him upon meeting him, without violating the law.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(22, 23) But if he thrust him suddenly . . . See Deu. 19:4-5, where the meaning of the law is illustrated.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE UNINTENTIONAL MANSLAYER, Num 35:22-28.
Human life is so sacred that it must be hedged about by all possible safeguards. Hence, when one kills another by casualty, perfectly innocent of any evil intention, he must undergo the privation of his liberty by a lifelong imprisonment in the city of refuge. Such a liability tended to the utmost caution in the intercourse of man with man.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
without enmity. Compare Exo 21:13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Num 35:11, Exo 21:13, Deu 19:5, Jos 20:3, Jos 20:5
Reciprocal: Num 35:16 – if he smite