Derasha on Bamidbar 35:33 · TT unit 3

Parashas Masei · Passuk 35:33 · TT note 3

The Complete Passuk

וְלֹא־תַחֲנִ֣יפוּ אֶת־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתֶּם֙ בָּ֔הּ כִּ֣י הַדָּ֔ם ה֥וּא יַחֲנִ֖יף אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְלָאָ֣רֶץ לֹֽא־יְכֻפַּ֗ר לַדָּם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר שֻׁפַּךְ־בָּ֔הּ כִּי־אִ֖ם בְּדַ֥ם שֹׁפְכֽוֹ׃

Chabad.org — English translation + Rashi

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Kerisos 26a (TT note on “כִּי אִם”).

E-Daf — Kerisos 26a · Sefaria

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text — Kerisos 26a
תַּנְיָא, מִכָּל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם לִפְנֵי ה׳ תִּטְהָרוּ — חֵטְא שֶׁאֵין מַכִּיר בּוֹ אֶלָּא הַמָּקוֹם יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר, אֶלָּא מֵעַתָּה, עֶגְלָה עֲרוּפָה שֶׁעָבַר עָלֶיהָ יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים לֹא תֵּעָרֵף, שֶׁהֲרֵי חֵטְא שֶׁאֵין מַכִּיר בּוֹ אֶלָּא הַמָּקוֹם הוּא, אָמַר רָבָא, אָמַר קְרָא וְלָאָרֶץ לֹא יְכֻפַּר לַדָּם אֲשֶׁר שֻׁפַּךְ בָּהּ כִּי אִם בְּדַם שֹׁפְכוֹ.

English: It was taught: “From all your sins before the Lord you shall be purified” — a sin known only to the Omnipresent, Yom Kippur atones. Then should an eglah arufah over which Yom Kippur has passed not have its neck broken, since it is a sin known only to the Omnipresent? Rava said: Scripture says “and the land shall not be atoned for the blood… except by the blood of him who shed it.”

Type of Learning

Yom Kippur does not supersede the requirement of the killer’s blood (or eglah) for land-atonement.

What Is Learned

Even after Yom Kippur the land still requires the blood of the shedder (or the eglah ritual) for atonement of unsolved homicide.