Deuteronomy 21:1

Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder

21:1 If a homicide victim ¹  should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, ²  and no one knows who killed ³  him,

Deuteronomy 21:6

21:6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse ⁴  must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁵ 

[21:1]  ¹ tn Heb “slain [one].” The term חָלָל (khalal) suggests something other than a natural death (cf. Num 19:16; 23:24; Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15; 30:24; 31:17-18).

[21:1]  ² tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ³ tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”

[21:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “slain [one].”

[21:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.