Deuteronomy 21:2
in Deuteronomy 21your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
KJV
Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThen thy elders and thy judges shall come forth,.... From the city or cities near to which the murder was committed, to make inquiry about it, and expiation for it; so Aben Ezra interprets it of the elders of the cities near, but others understand it of the elders of the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem; so the Targum of Jonathan,"then shall go out from the great sanhedrim two of thy wise men, and three of thy judges;''and more expressly the Misnah (l),"three go out from the great sanhedrim in Jerusalem;''R.
This site's exposition
If one be found slain
on Deuteronomy 21:1-5
An unsolved killing leaves guilt on the land itself, and the town measured nearest to the body is the town that answers for it. The heifer is one that has never been worked and never drawn in a yoke, and its neck is struck off in a valley that has never been ploughed or sown, so nothing in the rite has been put to human use before. Albert Barnes notes that the heifer is not called a sin offering and that its blood is never brought to an altar, which makes the transaction figurative rather than sacrificial. Standing behind it is Genesis 9:5, where God requires the blood of a man at the hand of every man, so a death that no court can trace still has to be answered by somebody.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thy elders and Judges - Those of thy elders who are Judges: the Judges or rulers of all the neighbouring cities. Measure - Unless it be evident which city is nearest; for then measuring was superfluous.
Note, Public persons must be solicitous about the public good; and those that are in power and reputation in cities must lay out themselves to redress grievances, and reform what is amiss in the country and neighbourhood that lie about them. Those that are next to them should have the largest share of their good influence, as ministers of God for good.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The elders represented the citizens at large, the judges the magistracy: priests Deu 21:5 from the nearest priestly town, were likewise to be at hand. Thus, all classes would be represented at the purging away of that blood-guiltiness which until removed attached to the whole community.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
According to Jewish writers, the Sanhedrin, taking charge of such a case, sent a deputation to examine the neighborhood. They reported to the nearest town to the spot where the body was found. An order was then issued by their supreme authority to the elders or magistrates of that town, to provide the heifer at the civic expense and go through the appointed ceremonial.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
As Scripture mentions the war against enemies, 1 In the previous chapter.
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. 4 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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיָצְא֥וּ | veyatzeu | and they will go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| זְקֵנֶ֖יךָ | zekeneicha | elders your | H2205 → | 178 times |
| וְשֹׁפְטֶ֑יךָ | veshofeteikha | and judges your | H8199 → | 202 times |
| וּמָדְדוּ֙ | umadedu | and they will measure | H4058 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הֶ֣עָרִ֔ים | hearim | the cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| סְבִיבֹ֥ת | sevivot | [are] around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| הֶחָלָֽל׃ | hechalal | the [one] slain | H2491 → | 94 times |
וְיָצְא֥וּand they will go out
veyatzeuH3318 →1067 times
זְקֵנֶ֖יךָelders your
zekeneichaH2205 →178 times
וְשֹׁפְטֶ֑יךָand judges your
veshofeteikhaH8199 →202 times
וּמָדְדוּ֙and they will measure
umadeduH4058 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הֶ֣עָרִ֔יםthe cities
hearimH5892 →1090 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
סְבִיבֹ֥ת[are] around
sevivotH5439 →336 times
הֶחָלָֽל׃the [one] slain
hechalalH2491 →94 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.