The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

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- Chapter 21 -

“When there will have been found in the land, which the Lord your God will give to you, the corpse of a man who has been killed, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,

your judges and those greater by birth shall go out and measure, from the place of the corpse, the distance to each of the surrounding cities.

And in whichever one they perceive to be closer than the others, the elders shall take a calf from the herd, one which has not pulled with a yoke, nor tilled with a plow.

And they shall lead it into a rough and stony valley, one which has never been tilled or sown. And in that place, they shall cut the neck of the calf.(a)

And the priests the sons of Levi shall approach, those whom the Lord your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and to decide every controversy by their word, and to judge which things are clean and which are unclean.

And those greater by birth of that city, nearest to the one who was slain, shall go and shall wash their hands over the calf that was killed in the valley.

And they shall say: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

Be merciful to your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, and do not charge them with innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.’ And so the guilt of the blood will be taken away from them.

Then you will be free from the blood that was shed against the innocent, when you will have done as the Lord has instructed you.

Marrying a Captive Woman

If you have gone out to fight against your enemies, and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand, and if, as you are leading away the captives,

you see among the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and you love her, and you are willing to have her as a wife:

then you shall lead her into your house. And she shall shave off her hair, and cut her nails short,

and remove the garment in which she was captured. And she shall sit in your house and weep for her father and mother, for one month. And after that, you shall enter to her and sleep with her, and she shall be your wife.

But if afterwards she does not sit well in your mind, you shall set her free. You cannot sell her for money, nor can you oppress her by force. For you have humiliated her.

Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn

If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and they have produced children by him, and if the son of the hated wife is the firstborn,

and if he wishes to divide his substance among his sons: he cannot make the son of the beloved wife the firstborn, and so prefer him before the son of the hated wife.

Instead, he shall acknowledge the son of the hated wife as the firstborn, and he shall give to him a double portion of all that he has. For he is the first among his children, and the rights of the firstborn are owed to him.

A Rebellious Son

(Luke 15:11–32)

If a man produces a disobedient and reckless son, who will not listen to the orders of his father or mother, and, having been corrected, shows contempt for obedience:

they shall take him and lead him to the elders of the city and to the gate of judgment.

And they shall say to them: ‘This our son is reckless and disobedient. He shows contempt when listening to our admonitions. He occupies himself with carousing, and self-indulgence, and feasting.’

Then the people of the city shall stone him to death. And he shall die, so that you may take away the evil from your midst. And so may all of Israel, upon hearing it, be very afraid.

Cursed Is Anyone Hung on a Tree

When a man will have sinned in a matter which is punished by death, and, having been judged unto death, he has been hanged on a gallows:

his corpse shall not remain on the tree. Instead, he shall be buried on the same day. For he who hangs from a tree has been cursed by God, and you shall not defile your land, which the Lord your God will give to you as a possession.”

Footnotes

(a)21:4 The calf which has never worn a yoke or tilled the ground, and the untilled valley, both represent innocence. The cutting of the calf’s neck, spilling its blood onto the ground, represents the shedding of the blood of the innocent.(Conte)

If someone is found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck him,

then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is slain.

It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn’t been worked with and which has not drawn in the yoke.

The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

The priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for them the LORD your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the LORD’s name; and according to their word shall every controversy and every assault be decided.

All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

They shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

Forgive, LORD, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood among your people Israel.” The blood shall be forgiven them.

So you shall put away the innocent blood from among you, when you shall do that which is right in the LORD’s eyes.

Marrying a Captive Woman

When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you carry them away captive,

and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her, and desire to take her as your wife,

then you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head and trim her nails.

She shall take off the clothing of her captivity, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she desires; but you shall not sell her at all for money. You shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her.

Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn

If a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated,

then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn;

but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.

A Rebellious Son

(Luke 15:11–32)

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not listen to them,

then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his place.

They shall tell the elders of his city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall remove the evil from among you. All Israel shall hear, and fear.

Cursed Is Anyone Hung on a Tree

If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,

his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Don’t defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.