Deuteronomy 21:6

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
All the elders of the city nearest to the victim will wash their hands by the stream over the young cow whose neck has been broken.

Hebrew Names Version
All the Zakenim of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

King James Version
And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

Lexham English Bible
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.

English Standard Version
And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,

New Century Version
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.

New English Translation
and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

Amplified Bible
"All the elders of that city nearest to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

New American Standard Bible
"And all the elders of that city which is nearest to the person killed shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

Geneva Bible (1587)
And all the Elders of that citie that came neere to the slayne man, shal wash their hands ouer the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

Legacy Standard Bible
And all the elders of that city who are nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

Contemporary English Version
The town leaders will wash their hands over the body of the dead cow

Complete Jewish Bible
All the leaders of the town nearest the murder victim are to wash their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the vadi.

Darby Translation
And all the elders of that city, that are nearest unto him that is slain, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck is broken in the watercourse,

Easy-to-Read Version
All the leaders of the town nearest the dead body must wash their hands over the cow that had its neck broken in the valley.

George Lamsa Translation
And all the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer which is slaughtered in the valley;

Good News Translation
Then all the leaders from the town nearest the place where the murdered person was found are to wash their hands over the cow

Literal Translation
And all the elders of that city nearest to the one slain shall wash their hands by the stream, over the heifer whose neck was broken.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And all the Elders of the same cite shall come forth vnto the slayne, & wash their handes ouer ye yonge cowe, whose heade is stricken of in the valley,

American Standard Version
And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

Bible in Basic English
And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And all the elders of the citie that come foorth to the slayne man, shall washe their handes ouer the heyffer that is beheaded in the valley,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

King James Version (1611)
And all the Elders of that city that are next vnto the slaine man, shal wash their hands ouer the heifer that is beheaded in the valley.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And all the elders of that city who draw nigh to the slain man shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer which was slain in the valley;

English Revised Version
and all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley:

Berean Standard Bible
Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the grettere men in birthe of that citee schulen come to the slayn man, and thei schulen waische her hondis on the cow calf, that was slayn in the valei;

Young's Literal Translation
and all the elders of that city, who are near unto the slain one, do wash their hands over the heifer which is beheaded in the valley,

Update Bible Version
And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

Webster's Bible Translation
And all the elders of that city [that are] next to the slain [man], shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

World English Bible
All the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

New King James Version
And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

New Living Translation
"The elders of the town must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken.

New Life Bible
All the leaders of that city nearest to the dead man will wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley.

New Revised Standard
All the elders of that town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and, all the elders of that city who are nearest unto the slain, shall bathe their hands over the heifer that hath boon beheaded in the ravine,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,

Revised Standard Version
And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

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

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 fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, "Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?"

Genesis 21:22
At about that same time, Abimelech and the captain of his troops, Phicol, spoke to Abraham: "No matter what you do, God is on your side. So swear to me that you won't do anything underhanded to me or any of my family. For as long as you live here, swear that you'll treat me and my land as well as I've treated you."

Genesis 21:27
So the two of them made a covenant. Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. Abraham set aside seven sheep from his flock.

Isaiah 49:15
"Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I'd never forget you—never. Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands. The walls you're rebuilding are never out of my sight. Your builders are faster than your wreckers. The demolition crews are gone for good. Look up, look around, look well! See them all gathering, coming to you? As sure as I am the living God"— God 's Decree— "you're going to put them on like so much jewelry, you're going to use them to dress up like a bride.

Isaiah 54:1
"Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby. Fill the air with song, you who've never experienced childbirth! You're ending up with far more children than all those childbearing women." God says so! "Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep. You're going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You're going to take over whole nations; you're going to resettle abandoned cities. Don't be afraid—you're not going to be embarrassed. Don't hold back—you're not going to come up short. You'll forget all about the humiliations of your youth, and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory. For your Maker is your bridegroom, his name, God -of-the-Angel-Armies! Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel, known as God of the whole earth. You were like an abandoned wife, devastated with grief, and God welcomed you back, Like a woman married young and then left," says your God.

Hebrews 11:11
By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That's how it happened that from one man's dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.

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.