Deu 21:1-9 | NETfull | STEP | 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,

Deuteronomy 21:1-9

1 If a homicide victim ^{▼▼ Heb “slain [one].” The term חָלָל (khalal) suggests something other than a natural death (cf. Num 19:16; 23:24; Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15; 30:24; 31:17–18).} should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, ^{▼▼ The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.} and no one knows who killed ^{▼▼ Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”} him, 2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse. ^{▼▼ Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”} 3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse ^{▼▼ Heb “slain [one].”} must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked – that has never pulled with the yoke – 4 and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water, ^{▼▼ The combination “a wadi with flowing water” is necessary because a wadi (נַחַל, nakhal) was ordinarily a dry stream or riverbed. For this ritual, however, a perennial stream must be chosen so that there would be fresh, rushing water.} to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. ^{▼▼ The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.} There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5 Then the Levitical priests ^{▼▼ Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”} will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, ^{▼▼ Heb “in the name of the Lord.” See note on Deut 10:8. The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.} and to decide ^{▼▼ Heb “by their mouth.”} every judicial verdict ^{▼▼ Heb “every controversy and every blow.”} ) 6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse ^{▼▼ Heb “slain [one].”} must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ^{▼▼ Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.} 7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we ^{▼▼ Heb “our eyes.” This is a figure of speech known as synecdoche in which the part (the eyes) is put for the whole (the entire person).} witnessed the crime. ^{▼▼ Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} 8 Do not blame ^{▼▼ Heb “Atone for.”} your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” ^{▼▼ Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”} Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed. 9 In this manner you will purge out the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before ^{▼▼ Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).} the Lord.