Numbers 35:22

Summary

The verse describes a hypothetical case of accidental harm: a person pushes another be-feta' ("in an instant", H6621) without eivah ("enmity", H0342), or throws an object at him without tzediyah ("lying in wait", H6660). This is part of the legal distinctions in Numbers 35 between intentional and unintentional killing.

Key words

• Feta' ("an instant", H6621) — masculine singular noun, governed by the preposition be ("in"), denoting the sudden, unplanned timing of the act.
• Eivah ("enmity", H0342) — feminine singular noun negated by lo ("not", H3808), specifying the absence of hostile intent behind the push.
• hadaFo ("he pushed him", H1920) — Qal perfect verb with 3rd person masculine suffix, indicating a completed simple action performed directly by the subject.
• hishLikh ("he threw", H7993) — Hiphil perfect verb, the causative stem marking that the subject caused an object to be thrown, distinct from the direct physical push of hadaFo.
• tzediYah ("lying in wait", H6660) — feminine singular noun negated by lo, describing the absence of premeditated ambush.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is structured as a conditional clause introduced by ve'im ("and if", H9002+H0518A), presenting two parallel alternative scenarios joined by 'o ("or", H0176A): either hadaFo ("he pushed him") or hishLikh 'alav kol-keli ("he threw upon him any object", H5921A+H3605+H3627). Each verb is qualified by a negated noun phrase specifying the mental state behind the act: the push occurs be-feta' be-lo eivah ("in an instant, without enmity"), and the throwing occurs be-lo tzediyah ("without lying in wait").

The grammar contrasts two verbal stems: the Qal perfect hadaFo for a direct physical action (pushing), and the Hiphil perfect hishliykh for a causative action (causing an object to be thrown). Both verbs are perfect forms, marking them as completed, hypothetical events within the conditional frame set by 'im. The double negation of eivah and tzediyah — both abstract nouns — frames the case entirely in terms of absence of hostile intention or premeditation, rather than describing the physical outcome itself.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders keli ("weapon/object", H3627) as skeuos ("object/vessel"), matching the Hebrew's generality. The Vulgate (VULCLEM) preserves only a fragment, "Quod si fortuitu, et absque odio" ("But if by chance, and without hatred"), omitting explicit mention of the throwing clause and tzediyah, though this may reflect a partial citation rather than a full textual divergence. The BSB and SBLIBRE translations render tzediyah as "unintentional" or "sin intención de hacerle daño" ("without intention to harm"), an interpretive expansion beyond the more literal "lying in wait" sense of the Hebrew noun.