Deuteronomy 21:1-8

1 "If someone slain is found in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it [and] [is] lying in the field, [and] it is not known who {killed him},

2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and shall measure [the distance] to the cities that [are] around the slain one.

3 {And then} the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with [in the field], that has not pulled a yoke,

4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a {wadi that flows with water all year} and [that] has not been plowed and has not been sown; [then] {there they shall break the neck of the heifer in the wadi}.

5 Then the priests, the descendants of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to bless in the name of Yahweh, and every legal dispute and every [case of] assault will be {subject to their ruling}.

6 And all of the elders of that city nearest to the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer [with] the broken neck in the wadi.

7 And they shall declare, and they shall say, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see [what was done].

8 Forgive your people, Israel, whom you redeemed, Yahweh, and [do] not {allow} the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, and let them be forgiven [with regard to] blood.'

Deuteronomy 21:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 21

This chapter treats of the beheading of the heifer, for the expiation of unknown murder, and the rules to be observed in it, De 21:1-9 of a beautiful captive woman an Israelite is desirous of having for his wife, and what methods he must take to accomplish it, De 21:10-14, of giving the double portion to the firstborn, which he must not be deprived of in favour of the son of a beloved wife, De 21:15-17 and of the stubborn and rebellious son, who remaining so must be put to death, De 21:18-21 and of burying a person hanged on a tree the same day he is executed, De 21:22,23.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "struck/smote him"
• [b]. Literally "And it will happen"
• [c]. Literally "an ever-flowing wadi"
• [d]. Literally "they shall break there [the neck] with respect to the heifer in the ever-flowing wadi"; the Hebrew verb carries the meaning "to break the neck of"
• [e]. Or "sons"
• [f]. Literally "on their mouth"
• [g]. A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
• [h]. Literally "place/put"