# Deuteronomy 21 📖: Various Laws for Daily Life [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Deuteronomy Overview]] | [[Deuteronomy 20]] | [[Deuteronomy 22]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder [[#Verse 01.]] If a homicide victim should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, and no one knows who killed him,  [[#Verse 02.]] your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse.  [[#Verse 03.]] Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked—that has never pulled with the yoke—  [[#Verse 04.]] and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water, to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck.  [[#Verse 05.]] Then the Levitical priests will approach (for the Lordyour God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, and to decide every judicial verdict) ,  [[#Verse 06.]] and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.  [[#Verse 07.]] Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we witnessed the crime.  [[#Verse 08.]] Do not blame your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed.  [[#Verse 09.]] In this manner you will purge the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before the Lord. ### Laws Concerning Female Captives [[#Verse 10.]] When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail and you take prisoners,  [[#Verse 11.]] if you should see among them an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife,  [[#Verse 12.]] you may bring her back to your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails, [[#Verse 13.]] discard the clothing she was wearing when captured, and stay in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may sleep with her and become her husband and she your wife.  [[#Verse 14.]] If you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell her; you must not take advantage of her, since you have already humiliated her. ### Laws Concerning Children [[#Verse 15.]] Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, and they both bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less-loved wife.  [[#Verse 16.]] In the day he divides his inheritance he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other wife’s son who is actually the firstborn.  [[#Verse 17.]] Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less-loved wife as firstborn and give him the double portion of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power—to him should go the right of the firstborn. [[#Verse 18.]] If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail,  [[#Verse 19.]] his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city.  [[#Verse 20.]] They must declare to the elders of his city, “Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say—he is a glutton and drunkard.” [[#Verse 21.]] Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge wickedness from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid. ### Disposition of a Criminal’s Remains [[#Verse 22.]] If a person commits a sin punishable by death and is executed, and you hang the corpse on a tree,  [[#Verse 23.]] his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury him that same day, for the one who is left exposed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The elders measured the distance to the nearest town to decide which community was responsible for an unsolved killing (21:2-3). 2. The heifer had never been worked or yoked, and it was taken to a valley with flowing water that had never been plowed or planted (21:3-4). 3. The elders washed their hands over the heifer to declare their innocence (21:6-7). Pilate's hand washing at Jesus' trial echoes this idea (Matthew 27:24). 4. A captive woman was given a full month to mourn her parents before marriage (21:13), and she could not be sold as a slave if later divorced (21:14). 5. The firstborn received a double portion (21:17). Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, the share of a firstborn heir (2 Kings 2:9). 6. The loved and unloved wives recall Jacob, Rachel, and Leah (Genesis 29:30-31). 7. Both parents had to bring a rebellious son to the elders (21:18-20), so the decision rested with the community and not with an angry parent alone. 8. The "hanging" in 21:22 refers to displaying a body after execution, not to the method of execution. 9. Joshua followed this law when he took down the body of the king of Ai at sunset (Joshua 8:29). 10. Paul quotes 21:23 in Galatians 3:13 to explain how Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who became a curse for us by hanging on a tree (21:22-23). Paul quotes this verse to show that Jesus took the curse of the law in our place (Galatians 3:13). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Even an unsolved murder required the community to seek atonement (21:1-9). What does that say about how seriously God takes innocent blood? 2. The law protected the firstborn son of an unloved wife (21:15-17). How does God protect people who could easily be overlooked? 3. Why is it significant that Jesus' body was taken down from the cross before evening (21:23; John 19:31)? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verses 8-9: The elders ask the Lord to atone for His people and not hold innocent blood against them. - 📖 verse 17: The firstborn receives a double portion, even if his mother is the unloved wife. - 📖 verse 23: Anyone hanged on a tree is cursed by God, and the body must be buried the same day. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Galatians 03#Verse 13.|Galatians 3:13]] - Christ became a curse for us. - 🔗 [[Acts 05#Verse 30.|Acts 5:30]] - Jesus was hanged on a tree. - 🔗 [[Matthew 27#Verse 24.|Matthew 27:24]] - Pilate washes his hands. - 🔗 [[John 19#Verse 31.|John 19:31]] - The bodies were not to remain on the cross. - 🔗 [[Joshua 08#Verse 29.|Joshua 8:29]] - The king of Ai's body is taken down at sunset. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 📂 Internal Notes