Deuteronomy 19:13
in Deuteronomy 19You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
KJV
Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 19
Commentary
3 notes on this verseIt may be alluded to to show that in Jesus Christ there is no refuge for presumptuous sinners, that go on still in their trespasses. If we thus sin wilfully, sin and go on in it, there remains no sacrifice, Heb. x.
This site's exposition
if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast
on Deuteronomy 19:8-13
Three cities become six if the border grows, and verse 9 makes the enlargement turn on loving the Lord thy God and walking ever in his ways, one of the six places this book commands love. Joshua 20:7-9 names all six cities, three west of Jordan and the three Moses had already set east of it at 4:41-43. Verses 11 to 13 turn the shelter around, since a man who lay in wait is fetched out by the elders of his own city and delivered to the avenger, and thine eye shall not pity him. Refuge turns on intent, and 1 Kings 2:28-34 has Solomon apply the same distinction when Joab takes hold of the horns of the altar.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thine eye shall not pity him,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
“This means that you shall not say, ‘The first person has already been killed. Why should we kill him also, with the result that two people will be killed?’” This is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre. 265 Sifre, Shoftim.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
This is a warning against changing the boundaries of the division by which the princes apportioned the Land to the tribes. Numbers:16-29. or to any individual among them. Therefore he stated, which they of old time have set, 276 In Verse 14 before us.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָח֥וֹס | tachos | it will look with pity | H2347 → | 24 times |
| עֵֽינְךָ֖ | ʾeinekha | eye your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| עָלָ֑יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וּבִֽעַרְתָּ֧ | uviarta | and you will remove | H1197 → | 94 times |
| דַֽם־ | dam- | [the] blood of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| הַנָּקִ֛י | hanaki | the innocent [person] | H5355 → | 43 times |
| מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | miyisrael | from Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְט֥וֹב | vetov | and it will be good | H2895 → | 45 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ ס | lakh | to <the> you |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָח֥וֹסit will look with pity
tachosH2347 →24 times
עֵֽינְךָ֖eye your
ʾeinekhaH5869 →887 times
עָלָ֑יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
וּבִֽעַרְתָּ֧and you will remove
uviartaH1197 →94 times
דַֽם־[the] blood of
dam-H1818 →360 times
הַנָּקִ֛יthe innocent [person]
hanakiH5355 →43 times
מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֖לfrom Israel
miyisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְט֥וֹבand it will be good
vetovH2895 →45 times
לָֽךְ׃ סto <the> you
lakh
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 7:16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:33
They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
- Judges 8:27
From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
- Deuteronomy 7:2
and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- Deuteronomy 19:21
You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.
- Exodus 23:33
Through
Deuteronomy 7:2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
it leads to
- Judges 2:2
and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
- Exodus 23:32–33
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- Judges 2:2
Through
1 Kings 2:31And the king replied, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so remove from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed.
it leads to
- Numbers 35:33
Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the…
- Numbers 35:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.