Deuteronomy 27:24
in Deuteronomy 27‘Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor in secret. And all the people shall say, Amen.
KJV
Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 27
Commentary
4 notes on this verseCursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly,.... And kills him, and the murder is not known; the curse of God follows such, and overtakes them sooner or later. Some interpret this of smiting with the tongue, of secret backbiting and slander; so the Targum of Jonathan,"that smiteth with the third tongue;''or false accusation: and all the people shall say Amen; as disapproving of and condemning such a practice, even slander, and especially murder.
This site's exposition
Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret
on Deuteronomy 27:24-25
Both curses fall on killings, and both are hidden. Striking a neighbor “in secret” is murder with no witness, and taking a bribe to kill is murder bought at a distance.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(2.) Murder under colour of law, which is the greatest affront to God, for it makes an ordinance of his to patronise the worst of villains, and the greatest wrong to our neighbour, for it ruins his honour as well as his life: cursed therefore is he that will be hired, or bribed, to accuse, or to convict, or to condemn, and so to slay, an innocent person,
10 Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the L ORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day. A general charge to the people to keep God's commandments; for in vain did they know them, unless they would do them. This is pressed upon them, 1.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָר֕וּר | ʾarur | [is] cursed | H779 → | 63 times |
| מַכֵּ֥ה | makeh | [one who] strikes | H5221 → | 499 times |
| רֵעֵ֖הוּ | reehu | <of> neighbor his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| בַּסָּ֑תֶר | basater | in <the> secrecy | H5643 → | 36 times |
| וְאָמַ֥ר | veamar | and it will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אָמֵֽן׃ ס | ʾamen | amen | H543 → | 30 times |
אָר֕וּר[is] cursed
ʾarurH779 →63 times
מַכֵּ֥ה[one who] strikes
makehH5221 →499 times
רֵעֵ֖הוּ<of> neighbor his
reehuH7453 →188 times
בַּסָּ֑תֶרin <the> secrecy
basaterH5643 →36 times
וְאָמַ֥רand it will say
veamarH559 →5305 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אָמֵֽן׃ סamen
ʾamenH543 →30 times
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
Leviticus 24:17And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.
it leads to
- Genesis 9:5–6
And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 19:11–12
If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,
- Numbers 35:30–31
If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a…
- Exodus 21:12–14
Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
- Genesis 9:5–6
Through
2 Samuel 3:27When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 20:9–10
“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.
- 1 Kings 2:5
Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them…
- 1 Kings 2:32
The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to…
- Jeremiah 41:2
Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the…
- 2 Samuel 20:9–10
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.