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Deuteronomy 21:3

in Deuteronomy 21

Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

KJV

And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

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This verse in Deuteronomy 21

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
The requirements as regards place and victim are symbolic. The heifer represented the murderer, so far at least as to die in his stead, since he himself could not be found. As hearing his guilt the heifer must therefore be one which was of full growth and strength, and had not yet been ceremonially profaned by human use. The Christian commentators find here a type of Christ and of His sacrifice for man: but the heifer was not strictly a sacrifice or sin-offering. The transaction was rather figurative, and was so ordered as to impress the lesson of Gen 9:5.

This site's exposition

If one is found slain, lying in a field

on Deuteronomy 21:1-5

An unsolved killing leaves guilt on the land, and the town nearest the body answers for it. Behind the rite stands Genesis 9:5, where God requires a man's blood of every man.

This site's exposition

a heifer that has never been yoked

Wesley reads the heifer never yoked as a figure of the murderer, a man who would not bear the yoke of God's law. It dies in his place. He also sees Christ in it, who bore a yoke He chose.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Which hath not drawn in the yoke - A fit representative of the murderer, in whose stead it was killed, who would not bear the yoke of God's laws. A type also of Christ, who was under the yoke, but what he had voluntarily taken upon himself.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

And the Jews say that unless, after this, the murderer was found out, this valley where the heifer was killed was never to be tilled nor sown. (4.) The elders were to wash their hands in water over the heifer that was killed, and to profess, not only that they had not shed this innocent blood themselves, but that they knew not who had (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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 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

19 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.

  • וְהָיָ֣הand it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • הָעִ֔ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • הַקְּרֹבָ֖ה<the> near

    hakerovahH7138 →77 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הֶחָלָ֑לthe [one] slain

    hechalalH2491 →94 times

  • וְלָֽקְח֡וּand they will take

    velakechuH3947 →966 times

  • זִקְנֵי֩[the] elders of

    zikneiH2205 →178 times

  • הָעִ֨ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • הַהִ֜וא<the> that

    hahiv'H1931 →1879 times

  • עֶגְלַ֣תa heifer of

    ʾeglatH5697 →14 times

  • בָּקָ֗ר[the] herd

    bakarH1241 →183 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • עֻבַּד֙it has been worked

    ʾubadH5647 →288 times

  • בָּ֔הּby <the> it

    bah

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • מָשְׁכָ֖הit has dragged

    mashekhahH4900 →

  • בְּעֹֽל׃by a yoke

    beolH5923 →

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

Related verses

4 in all, six open

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

    Philippians 2:8

    And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

    it leads to

    • John 10:18

      No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received…

    • Hebrews 12:2

      Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand…

    • Romans 5:19

      For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

    • 1 Peter 2:24

      He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”

    • 1 Peter 3:18

      For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

  • Through

    Jeremiah 31:18

    I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 31:9

      They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am…

    • Psalms 80:3

      Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

  • Through

    Numbers 19:2

    “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 22:20–25

      You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 21 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.

Read on in Deuteronomy 21 →