Deuteronomy 21:3-9

21:3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse ¹  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, ²  to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. ³  There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 21:5 Then the Levitical priests ⁴  will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, ⁵  and to decide ⁶  every judicial verdict ⁷ ) 21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse ⁸  must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁹  21:7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we ¹⁰  witnessed the crime. ¹¹  21:8 Do not blame ¹²  your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” ¹³  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 ¹⁴  the Lord.

¹ tn Heb “slain [one].”

² tn The combination “a wadi with flowing water” is necessary because a wadi (נַחַל, nakhal) was ordinarily a dry stream or riverbed. For this ritual, however, a perennial stream must be chosen so that there would be fresh, rushing water.

³ sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity – of freedom from human contamination.

³ tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”

⁴ tn Heb “in the name of the Lord.” See note on Deut 10:8. The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

⁵ tn Heb “by their mouth.”

⁶ tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”

⁴ tn Heb “slain [one].”

⁵ tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.

⁵ tn Heb “our eyes.” This is a figure of speech known as synecdoche in which the part (the eyes) is put for the whole (the entire person).

⁶ tn Heb “seen”; the implied object (the crime committed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “Atone for.”

⁷ tn Heb “and do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.”

⁷ tn Heb “in the eyes of” (so ASV, NASB, NIV).