Deuteronômio 21

ARC · Chapter 21/34

1Quando na terra que te dér o Senhor teu Deus para possuil-a se achar algum morto, caido no campo, sem que se saiba quem o matou,

2Então sairão os teus anciãos e os teus juizes, e medirão o espaço até ás cidades que estiverem em redor do morto;

3E, na cidade mais chegada ao morto, os anciãos da mesma cidade tomarão uma bezerra da manada, que não tenha trabalhado nem tenha puxado com o jugo;

4E os anciãos d'aquella cidade trarão a bezerra a um valle aspero, que nunca foi lavrado nem semeado: e ali, n'aquelle valle, degolarão a bezerra;

5Então se achegarão os sacerdotes, filhos de Levi (pois o Senhor teu Deus os escolheu para o servirem, e para abençoarem em nome do Senhor; e pelo seu dito se determinará toda a demanda e toda a ferida);

6E todos os anciãos da mesma cidade, mais chegados ao morto, lavarão as suas mãos sobre a bezerra degolada no valle;

7E protestarão, e dirão: As nossas mãos não derramaram este sangue, e os nossos olhos o não viram.

8Sê propicio ao teu povo Israel, que tu, ó Senhor, resgataste, e não ponhas o sangue innocente no meio do teu povo Israel. E aquelle sangue lhes será expiado.

9Assim tirarás o sangue innocente do meio de ti: pois farás o que é recto aos olhos do Senhor.

10Quando saires á peleja contra os teus inimigos, e o Senhor teu Deus os entregar nas tuas mãos, e tu d'elles levares prisioneiros,

11E tu entre os presos vires uma mulher formosa á vista, e a cobiçares, e a tomares por mulher,

12Então a trarás para a tua casa: e ella se rapará a cabeça e cortará as suas unhas,

13E despirá o vestido do seu captiveiro, e se assentará na tua casa, e chorará a seu pae e a sua mãe um mez inteiro: e depois entrarás a ella, e tu serás seu marido e ella tua mulher.

14E será que, se te não contentares d'ella, a deixarás ir á sua vontade; mas de sorte nenhuma a venderás por dinheiro, nem com ella mercadejarás, pois a tens humilhado.

15Quando um homem tiver duas mulheres, uma a quem ama e outra a quem aborrece, e a amada e a aborrecida lhe parirem filhos, e o filho primogenito fôr da aborrecida,

16Será que, no dia em que fizer herdar a seus filhos o que tiver, não poderá dar a primogenitura ao filho da amada, adiante do filho da aborrecida, que é o primogenito.

17Mas o filho da aborrecida reconhecerá por primogenito, dando-lhe dobrada porção de tudo quanto tiver: porquanto aquelle é o principio da sua força, o direito da primogenitura seu é.

18Quando alguem tiver um filho contumaz e rebelde, que não obedecer á voz de seu pae e á voz de sua mãe, e, castigando-o elles, lhes não dér ouvidos,

19Então seu pae e sua mãe pegarão n'elle, e o levarão aos anciãos da sua cidade, e á porta do seu logar

20E dirão aos anciãos da cidade: Este nosso filho é rebelde e contumaz, não dá ouvidos á nossa voz: é um comilão e beberrão.

21Então todos os homens da sua cidade o apedrejarão com pedras, até que morra; e tirarás o mal do meio de ti, para que todo o Israel o ouça, e tema

22Quando tambem em alguem houver peccado, digno do juizo de morte, e haja de morrer, e o pendurares n'um madeiro,

23O seu cadaver não permanecerá no madeiro, mas certamente o enterrarás no mesmo dia: porquanto o pendurado é maldito de Deus: assim não contaminarás a tua terra, que o Senhor teu Deus te dá em herança.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

This chapter covers a variety of cases: the ritual of atonement for an unsolved murder, rules about marrying women captured in war, the inheritance rights of the firstborn even when he was the son of the unloved wife, and the procedure for dealing with an incorrigibly rebellious son.

Explanation

The ritual of the heifer sacrificed for an unsolved murder shows that the community near the crime bore a symbolic collective responsibility to cleanse the guilt of blood shed in its territory, even without knowing who the guilty party was — reflecting the seriousness with which human life was treated, even in ambiguous circumstances. The legal protection given to women captured in war, including a period of mourning and the prohibition against selling them as slaves if the marriage did not work out, though it reflects a harsh reality of ancient warfare, was notably more protective of these women's rights than the common customs among other nations of the time. The guarantee that the firstborn son would receive his double portion of inheritance, regardless of which wife was the father's favorite, guarded against emotional favoritism distorting objective family justice.

Fun facts

  • The ritual of washing hands over the sacrificed heifer, declaring 'our hands have not shed this blood' (v. 6-7), is symbolically echoed by Pilate washing his hands before the crowd during Jesus' trial (Matthew 27:24), though under completely different moral circumstances.
  • The instruction that 'he that is hanged is accursed of God' and must not remain on the tree overnight (v. 23) is quoted by Paul in Galatians 3:13 to explain theologically how Christ, crucified, 'was made a curse for us' by dying in that specific manner.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronômio 21:1If someone was found dead in a field with no one knowing who killed him, the nearest town had to sacrifice a heifer in a valley and publicly declare that its hands had not shed that blood. It’s a ritual for removing collective guilt for a crime with no identified culprit, not a police investigation.
  2. Deuteronômio 21:2Faced with a body found with no identified killer, the elders and judges were to measure the distance to the surrounding towns.
  3. Deuteronômio 21:3The town closest to the body would take responsibility, using a heifer that had never been worked.
  4. Deuteronômio 21:4The ritual required taking the heifer to an untouched valley, never plowed or sown, and sacrificing it right there.
  5. Deuteronômio 21:5Levitical priests took part in the ritual, since it fell to them to judge this kind of dispute and injury.
  6. Deuteronômio 21:6The elders of the nearest town themselves washed their hands over the sacrificed animal, a symbolic gesture of innocence.
  7. Deuteronômio 21:7Along with the gesture, they formally declared that they had neither committed nor witnessed that crime.
  8. Deuteronômio 21:8They asked God to forgive the people, so that the guilt of the blood shed would not fall on the whole community.
  9. Deuteronômio 21:9The ritual served precisely to remove this collective guilt, doing what was right in God’s eyes.
  10. Deuteronômio 21:10The law about a woman captured in war requires giving her a month to mourn before any relations, forbids selling her afterward, and requires treating her as a wife, not as disposable plunder. By the wartime standards of the era, it was a law that limited what the victor could do with captives, even though today it sounds harsh from any angle.
  11. Deuteronômio 21:11It provides for the case of a soldier who, among the female captives of war, takes an interest in a woman and wants to marry her.
  12. Deuteronômio 21:12Before the marriage, she was to go through a transition process: shaving her head and trimming her nails.
  13. Deuteronômio 21:13She would also change out of her captive’s clothing and have a full month to mourn the loss of her own parents before the marriage took place.
  14. Deuteronômio 21:14If afterward the man no longer wanted to keep her, he had to let her go free, forbidden to sell her or treat her as merchandise.
  15. Deuteronômio 21:15Even if a man had two wives and favored the sons of the one he loved more, the law protected the right of the oldest son to receive a double inheritance, even if he was the son of the less-loved wife. It’s a rule that keeps personal affection from changing the line of inheritance.
  16. Deuteronômio 21:16It forbids the father from favoring the son of his preferred wife at the time of inheritance, disregarding the actual firstborn’s right.
  17. Deuteronômio 21:17It requires that the oldest son, even if born to the less-loved wife, receive the double portion guaranteed by the right of the firstborn.
  18. Deuteronômio 21:18The death penalty by stoning for a son described as “a glutton, and a drunkard” is one of the harshest laws in the book. Historians note that it required agreement between father and mother and a public trial before the elders, which in practice made actual execution rare — but the text still prescribes the penalty.
  19. Deuteronômio 21:19It describes the process against a rebellious son: his own parents were to bring him to the elders, at the gate of the town.
  20. Deuteronômio 21:20In the formal accusation before the elders, the parents would describe the son as stubborn, rebellious, a glutton, and a drunkard.
  21. Deuteronômio 21:21The extreme penalty was communal stoning, serving as a public example for the rest of Israel.
  22. Deuteronômio 21:22An executed body could not be left hanging overnight, because that would defile the land; it had to be buried the same day. Centuries later, this verse is quoted in the New Testament regarding the crucifixion.
  23. Deuteronômio 21:23It requires that the body of a condemned man hung on a tree be buried that same day, so as not to defile the land.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.