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Deuteronomy 21:6

in Deuteronomy 21

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,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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;

KJV

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:

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This verse in Deuteronomy 21

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

This site's exposition

shall wash their hands over

on Deuteronomy 21:6-9

The elders wash their hands over the beheaded heifer and say in the hearing of the priests that their hands have not shed this blood, neither have their eyes seen it. Psalm 26:6 uses the same picture for innocence, and Matthew 27:24 has Pilate wash his hands before the crowd and call himself innocent of the blood of Christ. Matthew Henry points out that Pilate had the words without the case, since he knew the man before him was innocent and sentenced him anyway. The prayer of verse 8 asks mercy for the whole people rather than for the elders, and the answer is that the blood shall be forgiven them, though nobody in that town did the killing.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

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 Psa 26:

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

6 , I will wash my hands in innocency; but if Pilate had any eye to it ( Matt. xxvii. 24 ) he wretchedly misapplied it when he condemned Christ, knowing him to be innocent, and yet acquitted himself from the guilt of innocent blood. Protestatio non valet contra factum--Protestations are of no avail when contradicted by fact.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְכֹ֗לand all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • זִקְנֵי֙[the] elders of

    zikneiH2205 →178 times

  • הָעִ֣ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • הַהִ֔וא<the> that

    hahiv'H1931 →1879 times

  • הַקְּרֹבִ֖ים<the> near

    hakerovimH7138 →77 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הֶחָלָ֑לthe [one] slain

    hechalalH2491 →94 times

  • יִרְחֲצוּ֙they will wash

    yirchatzuH7364 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • יְדֵיהֶ֔םhands their

    yedeihemH3027 →1618 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָעֶגְלָ֖הthe heifer

    haeglahH5697 →14 times

  • הָעֲרוּפָ֥ה<the> broken necked

    haarufahH6202 →

  • בַנָּֽחַל׃in the wadi

    vanachalH5158 →141 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 26:6I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,3 worksPsalms 73:13Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.3 worksHebrews 9:10They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform.3 worksMatthew 27:24–25When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”2 worksPsalms 19:12Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.2 worksPsalms 51:2Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Psalms 51:7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.2 worksJob 9:30If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,2 worksJeremiah 2:22Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.2 worksPsalms 51:14Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Psalms 19:12

    Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 90:8

      You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

    • Psalms 139:23–24

      Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

    • Job 6:24

      Teach me, and I will be silent. Help me understand how I have erred.

    • Jeremiah 17:9

      The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

    • Psalms 40:12

      For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.

  • Through

    Psalms 73:13

    Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 26:6

      I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

    • Job 21:15

      Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

  • Through

    Psalms 26:6

    I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

    it leads to

    • Psalms 73:13

      Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 21 →