FRAMEWORKS:
Deuteronomy 21: Misc. Administrative Laws
CONTEXT
Part
4: Ch.21-25 Moses lays out Relational Laws
Ch.21
Misc. Administrative Laws
Ch.22
Civil Laws, Marriage Laws & Abuse Laws
Ch.23
Holiness & Righteousness in the Nation
Ch.24
Relational Laws for a Holy Community
Ch.25
Sentencing, Succession, Misc. Laws
v.1-9
Atonement for an Unsolved Murder
v.10-14
Rules for Marrying a Captive Woman
v.15-17
The Right of the Firstborn
v.18-21
Dealing with a Rebellious Son
v.22,23
Misc. Laws
v.1-9
Atonement for an Unsolved Murder
v.1
If
someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord
your God is
giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was,
v.2
your
elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the
body to the neighboring towns.
v.3
Then
the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that
has never been worked and has never worn a yoke
v.4
and
lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and
where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are
to break the heifer's neck.
v.5
The
Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord
your God has
chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name
of the Lord
and to decide
all cases of dispute and assault.
v.6
Then
all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands
over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
v.7 and
they shall declare: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did
our eyes see it done.
v.8
Accept
this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed,
Lord,
and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent
person. Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,
v.9
and
you will have purged from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent
blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
[Notes:
There is the recognition here that murder can occur
without being able to ascertain who the murderer was. The objective
here is that the local elders take responsibility for their area
and so, with the help of the priests, stand before God and disclaim
any knowledge of the event and make atonement before the Lord
for the death.]
v.10-14
Rules for Marrying a Captive Woman
v.10
When
you go to war against your enemies and the Lord
your God delivers
them into your hands and you take captives,
v.11
if
you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted
to her, you may take her as your wife.
v.12
Bring
her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails
v.13
and
put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she
has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for
a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she
shall be your wife.
v.14
If
you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes.
You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have
dishonored her.
[Notes:
There is a recognition here [and remember this does
not apply to occupants of the Land] that when there has been war
and woman have been taken captive, there may be a temptation to
take them as yours. Therefore, there is a process laid down where
such a woman may be taken as a wife, while at the same time ensuring
a certain measure of protection for her.]
v.15-17
The Right of the Firstborn
v.15
If
a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both
bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does
not love,
v.16
when
he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights
of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference
to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.
v.17
He
must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn
by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first
sign of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs
to him.
[Notes:
Firstborn sons were given a certain honour, perhaps
to accompany the fact that they would eventually become responsible
for the whole family when the father eventually died. It doesn't
matter if there are two wives, whichever first-born was in fact
first, must have that honour and responsibility.]
v.18-21
Dealing with a Rebellious Son
v.18
If
someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his
father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline
him,
v.19
his
father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the
elders at the gate of his town.
v.20
They
shall say to the elders, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious.
He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.
v.21
Then
all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge
the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
[Notes:
This may seem severe by modern standards yet the deterrent
factor should always be remembered here, together with the process
covered in these verses. It would not be a casual and quick execution
but the elders would no doubt give the boy every chance to repent.
It would have been a very obstinate child who would go through
with this. This is one of a number of indicators in the Law that
the family unit is all important and to be protected.]
v.22,23
Misc. Laws
v.22
If
someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their
body is exposed on a pole,
v.23
you
must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure
to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole
is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord
your God is
giving you as an inheritance.
[Notes:
There was a fairly common practice in such times that
an executed body would be displayed for all to see and take note
of. In a hot climate this body should not be left beyond the one
day. This may be for hygiene reasons or, for the sake of civilized
society, not glorying in such sights.]