Deuteronomy 21:5

5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged:

Deuteronomy 21:5 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 21:5

And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near
Who were clearly of the tribe of Levi, as Aben Ezra notes; about whom there could be no dispute; for it seems there sometimes were persons in that office, of whom there was some doubt at least whether they were of that tribe; these seem to be such that belonged to the court of judicature at Jerusalem; see ( Deuteronomy 17:9 ) , who were to be present at this solemnity, to direct in the performance of it, and to judge and determine in any matter of difficulty that might arise:

for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him;
in the service of the sanctuary, by offering sacrifices

and to bless in the name of the Lord;
the people; see ( Numbers 6:23-27 )

and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried;
every controversy between man and man respecting civil things, and every stroke or blow which one man may give another; and whatsoever came before them was tried by them, according to the respective laws given concerning the things in question, and were not determined by them in an arbitrary way, according to their own will and pleasure; see ( Deuteronomy 17:8-11 ) .

Deuteronomy 21:5 In-Context

3 And whichever town is nearest to the body, the responsible men of that town are to take from the herd a young cow which has never been used for work or put under the yoke;

4 And they are to take the cow into a valley where there is flowing water, and which is not ploughed or planted, and there the neck of the cow is to be broken:

5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged:

6 And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley,

7 Will say, This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it.