17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, 1 legal claim, 2 or assault 3 – matters of controversy in your villages 4 – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 5 17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict.
1 tn Heb “between blood and blood.”
2 tn Heb “between claim and claim.”
3 tn Heb “between blow and blow.”
4 tn Heb “gates.”
5 tc Several Greek recensions add “to place his name there,” thus completing the usual formula to describe the central sanctuary (cf. Deut 12:5, 11, 14, 18; 16:6). However, the context suggests that the local Levitical towns, and not the central sanctuary, are in mind.