Deuteronomy 21:1-9

Atonement for an Unsolved Murder

1 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was,
2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns.
3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke
4 and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck.
5 The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.
6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
7 and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.
8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,
9 and you will have purged from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 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.

Cross References 7

  • 1. S Numbers 25:17
  • 2. S Numbers 19:2
  • 3. S Genesis 48:20; S Exodus 39:43; 1 Chronicles 23:13
  • 4. Deuteronomy 17:8-11
  • 5. Matthew 27:24
  • 6. Numbers 35:33-34
  • 7. Deuteronomy 19:13
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