Numbers 35:12

Summary

The verse establishes that the cities mentioned will function as places of refuge from a go'el ("avenger", H1350H), so that a rotzeach ("killer", H7523) will not die until he has stood before the congregation for judgment. The sentence sets a temporal condition ('ad — "until") that suspends the killer's death pending a formal appearance before the community.

Key words

• hayu ("they will become", H1961) — qal sequential perfect continuing the narrative chain from prior verses; marks the cities' change of legal status.
• miklat ("a refuge", H4733) — masculine singular noun designating the protective function of the cities, introduced by the preposition le- ("into/for").
• go'el ("an avenger", H1350H) — qal active participle, denoting an ongoing role/identity ("the one who avenges") rather than a single completed act.
• rotzeach ("killer", H7523) — qal active participle, likewise describing an ongoing designation ("the one who kills"), not a finished action; this is the subject protected by the refuge clause.
• mishpat ("judgment", H4941G) — masculine singular noun marking the purpose of standing before the congregation ('edah, H5712), introduced by la- ("for the").

What the text says

The clause structure moves from a general statement (ve-hayu lakhem he'arim le-miklat mi-go'el — "and the cities will become for you a refuge from an avenger") to a specific restriction (ve-lo yamut ha-rotzeach — "and the killer will not die"). Both go'el and rotzeach are qal participles, a grammatical form that in Biblical Hebrew often designates a role or ongoing state rather than a single event — the text speaks of "the one who avenges" and "the one who kills" as functional identities, not merely as agents of one past action. The temporal clause 'ad 'omdo lifnei ha'edah la-mishpat ("until his standing before the congregation for judgment") uses an infinitive ('omdo, "his standing") with a pronominal suffix, a construction that in Hebrew expresses a condition tied to the killer's own future action — literally "until his standing," placing the resolution in his hands to appear rather than describing an external process happening to him.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders go'el as cognatus occisi ("kinsman of the one killed"), making explicit an identification of the avenger as a blood relative that the Hebrew participle go'el does not state directly. The Vulgate also adds non poterit eum occidere ("he will not be able to kill him"), framing the clause as a restriction on the avenger's power rather than, as the Hebrew states, a statement that the killer "will not die." The LXX renders go'el as ἀγχιστεύοντος τὸ αἷμα ("the one claiming the blood"), explicitly inserting "the blood" (αἷμα), an element not present in the Hebrew text at this point.