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Hi Dgjot. Just looking at both the verses that use the word, 'satisfaction' ( Numbers 35:31,32), I see an entirely different meaning in Hebrew. The word is 'kopher', and its primary meaning would be, 'a payment'. However, depending on the application, it could apply to 'the price of a life', a ransom, or even a 'bribe'.
In verse 31, the meaning is that no other payment, whether monetary, goods, etc., can be received in exchange for a murderer's life - he had to pay with his life: life for life.
In verse 32, the story is of a murderer who has killed unintentionally (what we might refer today as 'manslaughter'), and then flees into one of the six allotted cities of refuge before he is caught & taken to the judge. Here he had to remain until the death of the high priest & was then free to go home if deemed innocent; though he would probably continually have to 'look over his shoulder' for the rest of his life, in case the deceased man's relatives were still looking out for revenge. Even to this man, no 'kopher' (ransom) could be paid to secure his release from this confinement in a city of refuge - he had to remain there maybe for many years.
I've always been in favor of the death penalty. I think the worst offenders should be permanently stopped. King Solomon saw what happens when the wicked are allowed to run rampant.
Ecclesiastes 8:11
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
We see the folly of showing mercy to rapists and murderers, or repeat offenders.
I agree with you, as far as governments should apply the law correctly to capital crimes; that's why they are appointed, in part for the punishment of crimes to ensure the safety of their citizens.
Yet, from a believer's perspective, the death of anyone, innocent or guilty, brings on sadness, as lives are being taken away without knowing the love of God & His forgiveness to all who repent & turn to Jesus. Time needs to be served, even some receiving the death penalty, but the eternal state of one's spirit should be uppermost in our thoughts, however grievous the crime.
And this can be a conundrum to a believer: how should we appropriate the rightness of a severe punishment given to a criminal and yet hold a tender heart towards him, for the welfare of his soul. Not an easy thing to do but for the ministry of the Holy Spirit with our spirit & mind.
I agree with you. As Christians, we are caught between a rock and a hard place.
When a convicted felon is sent to prison, they have the chance to repent and seek forgiveness. But will they?
Meanwhile, what about justice for their victims? Did their victims know Jesus? If they didn't, then they were cheated out of a chance to have salvation.
I go crazy thinking about these kinds of things. Only God knows the truth. We have to trust Him.
Amen. We can only look to God & trust Him to administer true justice. Even though lives can be extinguished early, whether in the womb or mature age, accompanied with the grief & anger that may be our emotion, we must ultimately leave the matter entirely with our Great Judge & know that however weak or deficient the Law might be, none will escape His dealings.
And from my own musings on this, I wonder how our law-makers, justices, & governments will stand before God, when they have failed to exact the correct punishment for the crime. When a rapist, child-molester, or murderer, for example, is eventually set free, to then commit those crimes again against other innocent people, I ask, does not the govt remain equally culpable to severe punishment by God as He also gives to the unrepentant criminal? What then is the difference between such govts & their acts, & those done by criminals? But it is somehow more convenient to us to turn a blind eye to all this, usually preferring to consider the well-being of the criminal rather than devastating effects of the crime done to innocent people. Of course, I take into account the possibility that even the Law is fallible; some being incarcerated in prison who are innocent of criminal behavior. But God does all things well & we can take comfort in Him & not in man.
Thou shall not steal. But if you have no problem with people taking things that don't belong to them or that they didn't pay for, you should put all your stuff on the curb so the thief doesn't have to break into your dwelling to get it.
What does this mean? That we shouldn't feel sorry for them, or smug that they are being put to death???
be surely put to death.
bribe, pitch, ransom, satisfaction, sum of money.
Only God can redeem!
In verse 31, the meaning is that no other payment, whether monetary, goods, etc., can be received in exchange for a murderer's life - he had to pay with his life: life for life.
In verse 32, the story is of a murderer who has killed unintentionally (what we might refer today as 'manslaughter'), and then flees into one of the six allotted cities of refuge before he is caught & taken to the judge. Here he had to remain until the death of the high priest & was then free to go home if deemed innocent; though he would probably continually have to 'look over his shoulder' for the rest of his life, in case the deceased man's relatives were still looking out for revenge. Even to this man, no 'kopher' (ransom) could be paid to secure his release from this confinement in a city of refuge - he had to remain there maybe for many years.
Ecclesiastes 8:11
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
We see the folly of showing mercy to rapists and murderers, or repeat offenders.
Yet, from a believer's perspective, the death of anyone, innocent or guilty, brings on sadness, as lives are being taken away without knowing the love of God & His forgiveness to all who repent & turn to Jesus. Time needs to be served, even some receiving the death penalty, but the eternal state of one's spirit should be uppermost in our thoughts, however grievous the crime.
And this can be a conundrum to a believer: how should we appropriate the rightness of a severe punishment given to a criminal and yet hold a tender heart towards him, for the welfare of his soul. Not an easy thing to do but for the ministry of the Holy Spirit with our spirit & mind.
When a convicted felon is sent to prison, they have the chance to repent and seek forgiveness. But will they?
Meanwhile, what about justice for their victims? Did their victims know Jesus? If they didn't, then they were cheated out of a chance to have salvation.
I go crazy thinking about these kinds of things. Only God knows the truth. We have to trust Him.
And from my own musings on this, I wonder how our law-makers, justices, & governments will stand before God, when they have failed to exact the correct punishment for the crime. When a rapist, child-molester, or murderer, for example, is eventually set free, to then commit those crimes again against other innocent people, I ask, does not the govt remain equally culpable to severe punishment by God as He also gives to the unrepentant criminal? What then is the difference between such govts & their acts, & those done by criminals? But it is somehow more convenient to us to turn a blind eye to all this, usually preferring to consider the well-being of the criminal rather than devastating effects of the crime done to innocent people. Of course, I take into account the possibility that even the Law is fallible; some being incarcerated in prison who are innocent of criminal behavior. But God does all things well & we can take comfort in Him & not in man.
[Comment Removed]
Sins worthy of death. So we should not take pleasure in loss of life.
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