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Texts -- Deuteronomy 21:1-17 (NET)

Context
Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder
21:1 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, 21:2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse . 21:3 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 21:4 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 . 21:5 Then the Levitical priests will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name , and to decide every judicial verdict ) verdict ) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley . 21:7 Then they must proclaim , “Our hands have not spilled this blood , nor have we witnessed the crime. 21:8 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 . 21:9 In this manner you will purge out the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before the Lord .
Laws Concerning Wives
21:10 When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail and you take prisoners , 21:11 if you should see among them an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife , 21:12 you may bring her back to your house . She must shave her head , trim her nails , 21:13 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 have sexual relations with her and become her husband and she your wife . 21:14 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
21:15 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. 21:16 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 . 21:17 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 .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 25:27-28 Esau was a nomadic hunter, but Jacob remained in his tents.". . . they became the personification of the two different ways of life which would have been typical for Palestine at this period of history: that of hunte...
  • Keil and Delitzsch pointed out that ancient Near Easterners offered certain offerings before God incorporated these into the Mosaic Law. Moses previously mentioned burnt offerings in Genesis 12:7; 13:4, 18; 22; 26:25; 33:20; ...
  • Let me share with you a couple of quotations that point out the importance of this book."Deuteronomy is one of the greatest books of the Old Testament. Its significance on the domestic and personal religion of all ages has no...
  • I. Introduction: the covenant setting 1:1-5II. Moses' first major address: a review of God's faithfulness 1:6-4:40A. God's past dealings with Israel 1:6-3:291. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-462. The march from Kades...
  • This brief section places the events that follow in their geographical and chronological setting. It introduces the occasion for the covenant, the parties involved, and other information necessary to identify the document and...
  • ". . . Deuteronomy contains the most comprehensive body of laws in the Pentateuch. It is clearly intended to be consulted for guidance on many aspects of daily life, in sharp contrast with the laws of Leviticus, which are ver...
  • Another writer suggested that chapters 6-26 expand the Decalogue with the intent of addressing the spirit of the law.92He believed the structure of the book supports his contention that the writer chose exemplary cases. Moses...
  • "These clearly are not laws or commandments as such but primarily series of parenetic homilies in which Moses exhorted the people to certain courses of action in light of the upcoming conquest and occupation of Canaan. Within...
  • The section of Deuteronomy dealing with general stipulations of the covenant ends as it began, with an exhortation to covenant loyalty (5:1-5; cf. 4:32-40)."This chapter is to be understood as a re-emphasis of these principle...
  • Moses' homiletical exposition of the law of Israel that follows explains reasons for the covenant laws that arose from the Ten Commandments. This address concludes with directions for celebrating and confirming the covenant (...
  • "The reason for grouping these five laws [in ch. 21], which are apparently so different from one another, as well as for attaching them to the previous regulations, is to be found in the desire to bring out distinctly the sac...
  • Israelite men could marry women from distant conquered cities taken as prisoners of war provided they did not already have a wife. Such a woman had to shave her head and cut her nails. These were rituals of purification custo...
  • The first-born son was to receive the traditional double portion of his father's inheritance. This was to be Israel's practice even though he may have been the son of the wife her husband loved less than another wife he had (...
  • This section concludes the "purely legal material."284The ordinances with which Moses concluded his second address (chs. 5-26) not only specified the Israelites' actions in further respects but also focused their thinking on ...
  • "The presentation of the commandments and the statutes and ordinances that will guide Israel's life in the land is over now. Verse 16 serves as a concluding bracket around chapters 5-26, matching Moses' introduction to the wh...
  • "Moses assigned the priests and elders the duty of regularly republishing the law of the covenant. The effect of this was to associate the priests and elders with Joshua in the responsibility of rule and in the esteem of Isra...
  • Adams, Jay. Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology seri...
  • Abner was the strong man in Israel. Ish-bosheth was simply a figurehead (v. 11). Abner's loyalty to the house of Saul is clear from his actions so far. However there was conflict between Ish-bosheth and Abner. In the ancient ...
  • Josiah began to seek Yahweh when he was 16 years old and began initiating religious reforms when he was 20 (2 Chron. 34:3-7). His reforms were more extensive than those of any of his predecessors. One of them was the repair o...
  • The Anointed One would fulfill God's ancient promises to Israel.61:4 Those who formerly mourned in Israel because of their downtrodden and depraved conditions would rebuild their land, which others had destroyed. These destru...
  • "Chapter 39 retells the story of God's attack and defeat but with a slightly different emphasis from that of the prior chapter. Not much attention is given to the attack itself (merely vv. 1-2), whereas a great deal of space ...
  • 44:15-16 The Levites from Zadok's branch of the priestly family, however, would have special privileges since Zadok and his sons had served the Lord faithfully in the past (cf. 40:46; 1 Sam. 2:35; 2 Sam. 8:17; 15:24-29; 1 Kin...
  • The revelation that Yahweh gave Malachi for Israel consisted of six "heavy"messages. The first one reminded God's people of His love for them and of their ungratefulness.1:2a The Lord's first word to His people was short and ...
  • Pilate was a cruel ruler who made little attempt to understand the Jews whom he hated.1047He had treated them unfairly and brutally on many occasions, but recently Caesar had rebuked him severely.1048This probably accounts fo...
  • 15:11-12 The man in the story had two sons, a younger and an older one (v. 25). Therefore the younger son's inheritance would normally have been one-third of his father's estate since the older son would have received a doubl...
  • Luke did not record Jesus' actual entrance into the city of Jerusalem. He stressed Jesus' approach to Jerusalem and His lamentation over it (vv. 41-44). This presentation has the effect of eliminating the triumphant spirit of...
  • Another group in the church deserved Timothy's special attention. Therefore Paul gave instructions concerning the care of elders to his young legate to enable him to deal with present and potential elders properly.The structu...
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