Deuteronômio 21:1

1 Se na terra que o Senhor teu Deus te dá para a possuíres, for encontrado algum morto caído no campo, sem que se saiba quem o matou,

Deuteronômio 21:1 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 21:1

If one be found slain
After public war with an enemy, Moses proceeds to speak of a private quarrel and fight of one man with another, in which one is slain, as Aben Ezra observes:

in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it;
where murders might be committed more secretly, and remain undiscovered, when they came to live in separate cities, towns, and villages, with fields adjacent to them, than now encamped together:

lying in the field;
where the quarrel begun, and where the fight was fought: or, however, where the murderer met with his enemy, and slew him, and left him; it being common for duels to be fought, and murders committed in a field; the first murder in the world was committed in such a place, ( Genesis 4:8 ) . The Targum of Jonathan is,

``not hidden under an heap, not hanging on a tree, nor swimming on the face of the waters;''

which same things are observed in the Misnah ^F9, and gathered from some words in the text:

in the land,
and so not under a heap;

lying,
and so not hanging;

in the field,
and so not swimming on the water:

and it be not known who hath slain him;
the parties being alone, and no witnesses of the fact, at least that appear; for, if it was known, the heifer was not beheaded, later mentioned ^F11; and one witness in this case was sufficient, and even one that was not otherwise admitted.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Sotah, c. 9. sect. 2.
F11 Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 9. sect. 11, 12.

Deuteronômio 21:1 In-Context

1 Se na terra que o Senhor teu Deus te dá para a possuíres, for encontrado algum morto caído no campo, sem que se saiba quem o matou,

2 sairão os teus anciãos e os teus juízes, e medirão as distâncias dali até as cidades que estiverem em redor do morto;

3 e será que, na cidade mais próxima do morto, os anciãos da mesma tomarão uma novilha da manada, que ainda não tenha trabalhado nem tenha puxado na canga,

4 trarão a novilha a um vale de águas correntes, que nunca tenha sido lavrado nem semeado, e ali, naquele vale, quebrarão o pescoço � novilha.

5 Então se achegarão os sacerdotes, filhos de Levi; pois o Senhor teu Deus os escolheu para o servirem, e para abençoarem em nome do Senhor; e segundo a sua sentença se determinará toda demanda e todo ferimento;