Deuteronomy 21:1-9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Law concerning Murder by Persons Unknown
21 “If, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess, a body is found lying in open country, and it is not known who struck the person down,(A) 2 then your elders and your judges shall come out to measure the distances to the towns that are near the body. 3 The elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked, one that has not pulled in the yoke; 4 the elders of that town shall bring the heifer down to a wadi with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the wadi. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord, and by their decision all cases of dispute and assault shall be settled.(B) 6 All the elders of that town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi, 7 and they shall declare, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to it. 8 Absolve, O Lord, your people Israel, whom you redeemed; do not let the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel.’ Then they will be absolved of bloodguilt.(C) 9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, because you must do what is right in the sight of the Lord.(D)
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Deuteronomy 21:1-9
New English Translation
Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder
21 If a homicide victim[a] should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you,[b] and no one knows who killed[c] him, 2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse.[d] 3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse[e] must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked—that has never pulled with the yoke— 4 and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water,[f] to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown.[g] There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5 Then the Levitical priests[h] will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name,[i] and to decide[j] every judicial verdict[k]) , 6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse[l] must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.[m] 7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we[n] witnessed the crime.[o] 8 Do not blame[p] your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.”[q] Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed. 9 In this manner you will purge the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before[r] the Lord.
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- Deuteronomy 21:1 tn Heb “slain [one].” The term חָלָל (khalal) suggests something other than a natural death (cf. Num 19:16; 23:24; Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15; 30:24; 31:17-18).
- Deuteronomy 21:1 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Deuteronomy 21:1 tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”
- Deuteronomy 21:2 tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”
- Deuteronomy 21:3 tn Heb “slain [one].”
- Deuteronomy 21:4 tn The combination “a wadi with flowing water” is necessary because a wadi (נַחַל, nakhal) was ordinarily a dry stream or riverbed. For this ritual, however, a perennial stream must be chosen so that there would be fresh, rushing water.
- Deuteronomy 21:4 sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity—of freedom from human contamination.
- Deuteronomy 21:5 tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”
- Deuteronomy 21:5 tn Heb “in the name of the Lord.” See note on Deut 10:8. The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
- Deuteronomy 21:5 tn Heb “by their mouth.”
- Deuteronomy 21:5 tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”
- Deuteronomy 21:6 tn Heb “slain [one].”
- Deuteronomy 21:6 tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.
- Deuteronomy 21:7 tn Heb “our eyes.” This is a figure of speech known as synecdoche in which the part (the eyes) is put for the whole (the entire person).
- Deuteronomy 21:7 tn Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Deuteronomy 21:8 tn Heb “Atone for.”
- Deuteronomy 21:8 tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”
- Deuteronomy 21:9 tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).
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