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 22:25

22:25 But if the man came across ⁴  the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped ⁵  her, then only the rapist ⁶  must die.

Deuteronomy 24:7

24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, ⁷  and regards him as mere property ⁸  and sells him, that kidnapper ⁹  must die. In this way you will purge ¹⁰  evil from among you.

[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.”

[22:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “found,” also in vv. 27, 28.

[22:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “lay with” here refers to a forced sexual relationship, as the accompanying verb “seized” (חָזַק, khazaq) makes clear.

[22:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “the man who lay with her, only him.”

[24:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.

[24:7]  ⁸ tn Or “and enslaves him.”

[24:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “that thief.”

[24:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.