What Does Numbers 35:19 Mean in the King James?
The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse names the blood-avenger a go’el, a kin-reclaimer, binding lethal retribution to the family’s claim over spilled blood.
THE MEANING
The slain person’s blood becomes a claim borne by the kin-reclaimer; when he meets the murderer, he kills him. The sentence names that killing directly and binds it to the kinsman’s role.
THE ROOT
גֹּאֵל הַדָּם
go’el ha-dam
GROWS FROM
גָּאַל
gā’al
Redeem, reclaim, or act as kin to recover what has been lost.
“revenger of blood” in this verse is go’el ha-dam. The word translated “revenger” is גֹּאֵל (go’el), a kinsman who reclaims what is lost. Here, the claim is blood: the same root that can describe a relative restoring family property names the relative who answers a murder with the murderer’s death.
ALSO GROWS
go’el: A redeemer or kinsman who reclaims.
גֹּאֵל
This is the word used for the blood-avenger here, tying his act to a kinship claim.
ge’ullah: Redemption or the right to reclaim.
גְּאֻלָּה
Used for the redemption of land, this branch shows the root’s wider sense of recovery within family ties.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats bloodshed as a claim that must be answered, while placing bounds on who answers it and how.
Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.THE THREAD
If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.The kin who comes to redeem is גֹּאֵל (go’el), from the same root as “revenger” here. The shared root links reclaiming a family’s lost land with answering a family’s shed blood.
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