申命记 21:6

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

那城所有的長老，就是離那被殺的人最近的，都要在山谷中，在被折斷頸項的母牛犢以上洗手。

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
那 城 的 众 长 老 ， 就 是 离 被 杀 的 人 最 近 的 ， 要 在 那 山 谷 中 ， 在 所 打 折 颈 项 的 母 牛 犊 以 上 洗 手 ，

Contextual Overview

¹ Suppose someone is found murdered, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own, and no one knows who killed the person. ² Your elders and judges should go to where the body was found, and they should measure how far it is to the nearby cities. ³ The elders of the city nearest the body must take a young cow that has never worked or worn a yoke, ⁴ and they must lead her down to a valley that has never been plowed or planted, with a stream flowing through it. There they must break the young cow's neck. ⁵ The priests, the sons of Levi, should come forward, because they have been chosen by the Lord your God to serve him and to give blessings in the Lord 's name. They are the ones who decide cases of quarreling and attacks. ⁶ Then all the elders of the city nearest the murdered person should wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁷ They should declare: "We did not kill this person, and we did not see it happen. ⁸ Lord , remove this sin from your people Israel, whom you have saved. Don't blame your people, the Israelites, for the murder of this innocent person." And so the murder will be paid for. ⁹ Then you will have removed from yourselves the guilt of murdering an innocent person, because you will be doing what the Lord says is right.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

wash their hands: Washing the hands was anciently a symbolical action, denoting that the person was innocent of the crime in question. Job 9:30, Psalms 19:12, Psalms 26:6, Psalms 51:2, Psalms 51:7, Psalms 51:14, Psalms 73:13, Jeremiah 2:22, Matthew 27:24, Matthew 27:25, Hebrews 9:10

Reciprocal: 1 Timothy 1:9 - manslayers

Cross-References

Genesis 17:17
Abraham bowed facedown on the ground and laughed. He said to himself, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth to a child when she is ninety?"

Genesis 21:12
But God said to Abraham, "Don't be troubled about the boy and the slave woman. Do whatever Sarah tells you. The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.

Genesis 21:15
Later, when all the water was gone from the bag, Hagar put her son under a bush.

Genesis 21:21
He lived in the Desert of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him in Egypt.

Genesis 21:22
Then Abimelech came with Phicol, the commander of his army, and said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do.

Genesis 21:27
Then Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle, and they made an agreement.

Genesis 21:28
Abraham also put seven female lambs in front of Abimelech.

Psalms 113:9
He gives children to the woman who has none and makes her a happy mother. Praise the Lord !

Psalms 126:2
Then we were filled with laughter, and we sang happy songs. Then the other nations said, "The Lord has done great things for them."

Isaiah 49:15
The Lord answers, "Can a woman forget the baby she nurses? Can she feel no kindness for the child to which she gave birth? Even if she could forget her children, I will not forget you.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And all the elders of that city that are next unto the slain man,.... The whole court of judicature belonging to it, all the magistracy of it; even though there were an hundred of them, Maimonides x says:

shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: in token of their innocence, and this they did not only for themselves, but for the whole city, being the representatives of it; see

Psalms 26:6. Some think that this is a confirmation of the sense embraced by some, that it was a strong stream to which the heifer was brought; and there might be a stream of water here, and a valley also; though it would be no great difficulty to get from the city, which was near, a sufficient quantity of water to wash the hands of the elders with. This may denote the purification of sin by the blood of Christ, when it is confessed over him; and shows that priests and elders, ministers of the word, as well as others, stand in need of it; and that even those concerned in the death of Christ shared in the benefits of it.

x Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 9. sect. 3.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 21:6. Shall wash their hands over the heifer — Washing the hands, in reference to such a subject as this, was a rite anciently used to signify that the persons thus washing were innocent of the crime in question. It was probably from the Jews that Pilate learned this symbolical method of expressing his innocence.