The previous pericope alluded to the need for witnesses, and this one explains their role. A common cause of hostility between individuals that sometimes led to homicide was a failure to agree on common boundaries and to respect property rights (cf. 1 Kings 21:1-26; 22:37-38).214In the ancient world boundary markers protected the property rights of individuals (v. 14). Many nations as well as Israel regarded them as sacred. Stones several feet high marked the boundaries of royal grants.215The Romans executed people who moved boundary markers.216Tribal boundaries were particularly significant in the Promised Land because Yahweh, the owner of the land, determined them.
In Israel judges assumed a person was innocent until proven guilty. Verses 15-21 explain what they were to do if they suspected some witness of giving false testimony. Normally at least two witnesses were necessary (17:6), but sometimes there was only one. In such a case the trial moved to the supreme court at the tabernacle (v. 17; cf. 17:8-13). False witnesses received the punishment they sought to bring on the persons they falsely accused (vv. 19, 21).217God here extended to all criminals the safeguards formerly guaranteed to capital offenders. Jesus did not deny the validity of this principle for the courtroom, but He forbade its application in interpersonal relationships (Matt. 5:38-42).
God's concern for His people's lives, possessions, and reputations stands out in this chapter.
