Deuteronomy 21:1-2

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, 21:2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse. ⁴ 

[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.”

[21:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “surrounding the slain [one].”