Deuteronomy 21:1

THE MESSAGE

If a dead body is found on the ground, this ground that God , your God, has given you, lying out in the open, and no one knows who killed him, your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance from the body to the nearest cities. The leaders and judges of the city that is nearest the corpse will then take a heifer that has never been used for work, never had a yoke on it. The leaders will take the heifer to a valley with a stream, a valley that has never been plowed or planted, and there break the neck of the heifer. The Levitical priests will then step up. God has chosen them to serve him in these matters by settling legal disputes and violent crimes and by pronouncing blessings in God 's name. Finally, all the leaders of that town that is nearest the body will wash their hands over the heifer that had its neck broken at the stream and say, "We didn't kill this man and we didn't see who did it. Purify your people Israel whom you redeemed, O God . Clear your people Israel from any guilt in this murder." That will clear them from any responsibility in the murder. By following these procedures you will have absolved yourselves of any part in the murder because you will have done what is right in God 's sight. When you go to war against your enemies and God , your God, gives you victory and you take prisoners, and then you notice among the prisoners of war a good-looking woman whom you find attractive and would like to marry, this is what you do: Take her home; have her trim her hair, cut her nails, and discard the clothes she was wearing when captured. She is then to stay in your home for a full month, mourning her father and mother. Then you may go to bed with her as husband and wife. If it turns out you don't like her, you must let her go and live wherever she wishes. But you can't sell her or use her as a slave since you've humiliated her. When a man has two wives, one loved and the other hated, and they both give him sons, but the firstborn is from the hated wife, at the time he divides the inheritance with his sons he must not treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, cutting out the son of the hated wife, who is the actual firstborn. No, he must acknowledge the inheritance rights of the real firstborn, the son of the hated wife, by giving him a double share of the inheritance: that son is the first proof of his virility; the rights of the firstborn belong to him. When a man has a stubborn son, a real rebel who won't do a thing his mother and father tell him, and even though they discipline him he still won't obey, his father and mother shall forcibly bring him before the leaders at the city gate and say to the city fathers, "This son of ours is a stubborn rebel; he won't listen to a thing we say. He's a glutton and a drunk." Then all the men of the town are to throw rocks at him until he's dead. You will have purged the evil pollution from among you. All Israel will hear what's happened and be in awe. When a man has committed a capital crime, been given the death sentence, executed and hung from a tree, don't leave his dead body hanging overnight from the tree. Give him a decent burial that same day so that you don't desecrate your God -given land—a hanged man is an insult to God.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“If a murder victim is found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

Hebrew Names Version
If one be found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn't known who has struck him;

King James Version
If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

Lexham English Bible
"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,

English Standard Version
"If in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him,

New Century Version
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.

New English Translation
If a homicide victim should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, and no one knows who killed him,

Amplified Bible
"If someone is found slain, lying in the field, in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has killed him,

New American Standard Bible
"If a person who has been killed by someone is found lying in the open country in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who struck him,

Geneva Bible (1587)
If one be founde slaine in the lande, which the Lord thy God giueth thee to possesse it, lying in the field, & it is not knowe who hath slaine him,

Legacy Standard Bible
"If a slain person is found fallen in the open country in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has struck him,

Contemporary English Version
Moses said to Israel: Suppose the body of a murder victim is found in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, and no one knows who the murderer is.

Complete Jewish Bible
"If, in the land Adonai your God is giving you to possess, a murder victim is found lying in the countryside; and the perpetrator of the murder is not known;

Darby Translation
If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess, lying in the field, [and] it be not known who hath smitten him,

Easy-to-Read Version
"In the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you might find a dead body in a field, but no one knows who killed that person.

George Lamsa Translation
IF a person is found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him;

Good News Translation
"Suppose someone is found murdered in a field in the land that the Lord your God is going to give you, and you do not know who killed him.

Literal Translation
If one is found slain in the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you, to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has struck him;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whan there is one slayne founde in ye londe which ye LORDE yi God shall geue ye to possesse it, & lyeth in ye felde, & it is not knowne who hath slaine him,

American Standard Version
If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him;

Bible in Basic English
If, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you come across the dead body of a man in the open country, and you have no idea who has put him to death:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
If one be founde slayne in the lande which the Lord thy God geueth thee to possesse it, and lyeth in the fielde, and it is not knowen who hath slayne hym:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him;

King James Version (1611)
If one bee found slaine in the lande, which the Lord thy God giueth thee to possesse it, lying in the fielde, and it bee not knowen who hath slaine him:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And if one be found slain with the sword in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit, having fallen in the field, and they do not know who has smitten him;

English Revised Version
If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him:

Berean Standard Bible
If one 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 killed him,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whanne the careyn of a man slayn is foundun in the lond which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, and `the gilti of sleyng is vnknowun,

Young's Literal Translation
`When one is found slain on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it -- fallen in a field -- it is not known who hath smitten him,

Update Bible Version
If one is found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has smitten him;

Webster's Bible Translation
If [one] shall be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, [and] it be not known who hath slain him:

World English Bible
If one be found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn't known who has struck him;

New King James Version
"If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

New Living Translation
"When you are in the land the Lord your God is giving you, someone may be found murdered in a field, and you don't know who committed the murder.

New Life Bible
"If a person has been killed and is found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own and it is not known who killed him,

New Revised Standard
If, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess, a body is found lying in open country, and it is not known who struck the person down,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
When there shall be found one slain on the soil which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee to possess, lying prostrate in the field, - it not being known who smote him,

Douay-Rheims Bible
When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,

Revised Standard Version
"If in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, any one is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"If a slain person is found lying in the open country in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has struck him,

Contextual Overview

¹If a dead body is found on the ground, this ground that God , your God, has given you, lying out in the open, and no one knows who killed him, your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance from the body to the nearest cities. The leaders and judges of the city that is nearest the corpse will then take a heifer that has never been used for work, never had a yoke on it. The leaders will take the heifer to a valley with a stream, a valley that has never been plowed or planted, and there break the neck of the heifer. The Levitical priests will then step up. God has chosen them to serve him in these matters by settling legal disputes and violent crimes and by pronouncing blessings in God 's name. Finally, all the leaders of that town that is nearest the body will wash their hands over the heifer that had its neck broken at the stream and say, "We didn't kill this man and we didn't see who did it. Purify your people Israel whom you redeemed, O God . Clear your people Israel from any guilt in this murder." That will clear them from any responsibility in the murder. By following these procedures you will have absolved yourselves of any part in the murder because you will have done what is right in God 's sight. When you go to war against your enemies and God , your God, gives you victory and you take prisoners, and then you notice among the prisoners of war a good-looking woman whom you find attractive and would like to marry, this is what you do: Take her home; have her trim her hair, cut her nails, and discard the clothes she was wearing when captured. She is then to stay in your home for a full month, mourning her father and mother. Then you may go to bed with her as husband and wife. If it turns out you don't like her, you must let her go and live wherever she wishes. But you can't sell her or use her as a slave since you've humiliated her. When a man has two wives, one loved and the other hated, and they both give him sons, but the firstborn is from the hated wife, at the time he divides the inheritance with his sons he must not treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, cutting out the son of the hated wife, who is the actual firstborn. No, he must acknowledge the inheritance rights of the real firstborn, the son of the hated wife, by giving him a double share of the inheritance: that son is the first proof of his virility; the rights of the firstborn belong to him. When a man has a stubborn son, a real rebel who won't do a thing his mother and father tell him, and even though they discipline him he still won't obey, his father and mother shall forcibly bring him before the leaders at the city gate and say to the city fathers, "This son of ours is a stubborn rebel; he won't listen to a thing we say. He's a glutton and a drunk." Then all the men of the town are to throw rocks at him until he's dead. You will have purged the evil pollution from among you. All Israel will hear what's happened and be in awe. When a man has committed a capital crime, been given the death sentence, executed and hung from a tree, don't leave his dead body hanging overnight from the tree. Give him a decent burial that same day so that you don't desecrate your God -given land—a hanged man is an insult to God. ⁹ If a dead body is found on the ground, this ground that God , your God, has given you, lying out in the open, and no one knows who killed him, your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance from the body to the nearest cities. The leaders and judges of the city that is nearest the corpse will then take a heifer that has never been used for work, never had a yoke on it. The leaders will take the heifer to a valley with a stream, a valley that has never been plowed or planted, and there break the neck of the heifer. The Levitical priests will then step up. God has chosen them to serve him in these matters by settling legal disputes and violent crimes and by pronouncing blessings in God 's name. Finally, all the leaders of that town that is nearest the body will wash their hands over the heifer that had its neck broken at the stream and say, "We didn't kill this man and we didn't see who did it. Purify your people Israel whom you redeemed, O God . Clear your people Israel from any guilt in this murder." That will clear them from any responsibility in the murder. By following these procedures you will have absolved yourselves of any part in the murder because you will have done what is right in God 's sight.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Psalms 5:6, Psalms 9:12, Proverbs 28:17, Isaiah 26:21, Acts 28:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 9:5 - and at Exodus 21:29 - his owner also Numbers 35:33 - it defileth 2 Samuel 3:28 - guiltless 2 Samuel 14:9 - and the king 2 Samuel 21:9 - before the Lord 1 Kings 21:8 - the elders

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.

Genesis 18:10
One of them said, "I'm coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.

Genesis 21:17
Meanwhile, God heard the boy crying. The angel of God called from Heaven to Hagar, "What's wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid. God has heard the boy and knows the fix he's in. Up now; go get the boy. Hold him tight. I'm going to make of him a great nation."

Genesis 21:20
God was on the boy's side as he grew up. He lived out in the desert and became a skilled archer. He lived in the Paran wilderness. And his mother got him a wife from Egypt.

Genesis 50:24
At the end, Joseph said to his brothers, "I am ready to die. God will most certainly pay you a visit and take you out of this land and back to the land he so solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Exodus 3:16
"Now be on your way. Gather the leaders of Israel. Tell them, ‘ God , the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to me, saying, "I've looked into what's being done to you in Egypt, and I've determined to get you out of the affliction of Egypt and take you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, a land brimming over with milk and honey."'

Ruth 1:6
One day she got herself together, she and her two daughters-in-law, to leave the country of Moab and set out for home; she had heard that God had been pleased to visit his people and give them food. And so she started out from the place she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law with her, on the road back to the land of Judah.

1 Samuel 2:21
God was most especially kind to Hannah. She had three more sons and two daughters! The boy Samuel stayed at the sanctuary and grew up with God .

Psalms 12:6
God's words are pure words, Pure silver words refined seven times In the fires of his word-kiln, Pure on earth as well as in heaven. God , keep us safe from their lies, From the wicked who stalk us with lies, From the wicked who collect honors For their wonderful lies.

Psalms 106:4
Remember me, God , when you enjoy your people; include me when you save them; I want to see your chosen succeed, celebrate with your celebrating nation, join the Hallelujahs of your pride and joy!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If one be found slain,.... After public war with an enemy, Moses proceeds to speak of a private quarrel and fight of one man with another, in which one is slain, as Aben Ezra observes:

in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it; where murders might be committed more secretly, and remain undiscovered, when they came to live in separate cities, towns, and villages, with fields adjacent to them, than now encamped together:

lying in the field; where the quarrel begun, and where the fight was fought: or, however, where the murderer met with his enemy, and slew him, and left him; it being common for duels to be fought, and murders committed in a field; the first murder in the world was committed in such a place, Genesis 4:8. The Targum of Jonathan is,

"not hidden under an heap, not hanging on a tree, nor swimming on the face of the waters;''

which same things are observed in the Misnah i, and gathered from some words in the text:

in the land, and so not under a heap;

lying, and so not hanging;

in the field, and so not swimming on the water:

and it be not known who hath slain him; the parties being alone, and no witnesses of the fact, at least that appear; for, if it was known, the heifer was not beheaded, later mentioned k; and one witness in this case was sufficient, and even one that was not otherwise admitted.

i Sotah, c. 9. sect. 2. k Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 9. sect. 11, 12.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XXI

If a man be found slain in a field, and the cause of his death

be unknown, the murder shall be expiated by the sacrifice of a

heifer in an uncultivated valley, 1-4.

The rites to be used on the occasion, 5-9.

The ordinance concerning marriage with a captive, 10-14.

The law relative to the children of the hated and beloved wives:

if the son of the hated wife should be the first-born he shall

not be disinherited by the son of the beloved wife, but shall

have a double portion of all his father's goods, 15-18.

The law concerning the stubborn and rebellious son, who, when

convicted, is to be stoned to death, 19-21.

Of the person who is to be hanged, 22.

His body shall not be left on the tree all night; every one that

is hanged on a tree is accursed of God, 23.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXI