Deuteronomy 21:6-16

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.'

9 And [so] you shall purge the innocent blood from your midst, because you must do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh.

10 "When you go out for battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God gives them into your hand, and you lead the captives away,

11 and you see among the captives a woman beautiful in appearance, and you become attached to her and you want to take her as [a] wife,

12 then you shall bring her into your household, and she shall shave her head, and she shall trim her nails.

13 And she shall remove the clothing of her captivity from her, and she shall remain in your house, and she shall mourn her father and her mother {a full month}, and after this {you may have sex with her}, and you may marry her, and she may {become your wife}.

14 And then if you do not take delight in her, then you shall let her go {to do whatever she wants}, but you shall not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

15 "If a man has two wives, [and] the one [is] loved and the [other] one [is] disliked and the one loved and the one that is disliked have borne for him sons, if it happens [that] the firstborn son {belongs to the one that is disliked},

16 [nevertheless] {it will be the case that} on the day of bestowing his inheritance upon his sons, he will not be allowed to treat as [the] firstborn son the son of the beloved [wife] {in preference to} the son of the disliked [wife], [who is] the firstborn [son].

Deuteronomy 21:6-16 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]. A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
• [b]. Literally "place/put"
• [c]. Hebrew "his captive" but singular pronoun refers to the many captives taken with plural sense
• [d]. Hebrew "captive"
• [e]. Literally "a month of days"
• [f]. Literally "you may go into her"
• [g]. Literally "become for you as wife"
• [h]. Literally "according to her desire/soul"
• [i]. Or "humbled"
• [j]. Literally "is to the wife who is hated"
• [k]. Literally "it will happen"
• [l]. Literally "over the faces of"