דברים 21

1 כי ימצא חלל באדמה אשר יהוה אלהיך נתן לך לרשתה נפל בשדה לא נודע מי הכהו

“Suppose someone has been murdered in a field in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, and you do not know who killed that person.

2 ויצאו זקניך ושפטיך ומדדו אל הערים אשר סביבת החלל

[If that happens], your elders and judges must go out to where that person’s corpse was found and measure the distance from there to each of the nearby towns.

3 והיה העיר הקרבה אל החלל--ולקחו זקני העיר ההוא עגלת בקר אשר לא עבד בה אשר לא משכה בעל

Then the elders in the town that is closest to where the corpse was found must select a young cow that has never been used for doing work.

4 והורדו זקני העיר ההוא את העגלה אל נחל איתן אשר לא יעבד בו ולא יזרע וערפו שם את העגלה בנחל

They must take it to a place near a stream where the ground has never been plowed or planted. They must break its neck there in that valley.

5 ונגשו הכהנים בני לוי--כי בם בחר יהוה אלהיך לשרתו ולברך בשם יהוה ועל פיהם יהיה כל ריב וכל נגע

The priests must go there also, because Yahweh our God has chosen them from the tribe of Levi to serve him and to be his representatives [MTY] when they bless people. And he has also chosen them to settle disputes in which someone has been injured.

6 וכל זקני העיר ההוא הקרבים אל החלל--ירחצו את ידיהם על העגלה הערופה בנחל

The elders from the closest town must wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken,

7 וענו ואמרו ידינו לא שפכה (שפכו) את הדם הזה ועינינו לא ראו

and they must say, ‘We did not murder this person [MTY], and we did not see who did it.

8 כפר לעמך ישראל אשר פדית יהוה ואל תתן דם נקי בקרב עמך ישראל ונכפר להם הדם

Yahweh, forgive us, your Israeli people whom you rescued [from Egypt]. Do not consider (us to be guilty/that we should be punished because) of murdering someone who (is innocent/had not done something that is wrong). Instead, forgive us.’

9 ואתה תבער הדם הנקי--מקרבך כי תעשה הישר בעיני יהוה

By doing that, you will be doing what Yahweh considers to be right, and you will not be considered to be guilty for murdering that person.”

10 כי תצא למלחמה על איביך ונתנו יהוה אלהיך בידך--ושבית שביו

“When you [soldiers] go to fight against your enemies, and Yahweh our God enables you to defeat them [IDM], and (they become your prisoners/you capture them),

11 וראית בשביה אשת יפת תאר וחשקת בה ולקחת לך לאשה

one of you may see among them a beautiful woman that he likes, and he may want to marry her.

12 והבאתה אל תוך ביתך וגלחה את ראשה ועשתה את צפרניה

He should take her to his home, and there she must shave [all the hair off] her head and cut her fingernails [to signify that now she does not belong to her people-group any more, but instead she is becoming an Israeli].

13 והסירה את שמלת שביה מעליה וישבה בביתך ובכתה את אביה ואת אמה ירח ימים ואחר כן תבוא אליה ובעלתה והיתה לך לאשה

She must take off the clothes that she was wearing when she was captured, [and put on Israeli clothes]. She must stay in that man’s house and mourn for a month because of [leaving] her parents. After that, he will be allowed to marry her.

14 והיה אם לא חפצת בה ושלחתה לנפשה ומכר לא תמכרנה בכסף לא תתעמר בה תחת אשר עניתה

Later, if he no longer is pleased with her, he will be permitted to allow her to leave him. But because she was forced to have sex with him, he will not be allowed to treat her like a slave [and sell her to someone else].”

15 כי תהיין לאיש שתי נשים האחת אהובה והאחת שנואה וילדו לו בנים האהובה והשנואה והיה הבן הבכר לשניאה

“Suppose that a man has two wives, but he likes one of them and dislikes the other one. And suppose that they both give birth to sons, and the oldest son is the child of the woman that he does not like.

16 והיה ביום הנחילו את בניו את אשר יהיה לו--לא יוכל לבכר את בן האהובה על פני בן השנואה הבכר

On the day when that man decides how he will divide his possessions for his sons to possess [after he dies], he must not favor the son of the wife that he loves by giving him [a bigger share, ] the share that the older son should receive.

17 כי את הבכר בן השנואה יכיר לתת לו פי שנים בכל אשר ימצא לו כי הוא ראשית אנו לו משפט הבכרה

He must give to the older son, the son of the wife whom he does not like, twice as much of his possessions. That son is his firstborn son, and he must be given the share that he should receive because of his being that man’s firstborn son.”

18 כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה--איננו שמע בקול אביו ובקול אמו ויסרו אתו ולא ישמע אליהם

“Suppose there is a boy who is very stubborn and always (rebelling against/disobeying) [his parents], and who will not heed what they say to him. And suppose that they punish him but he still does not pay attention to what they tell him [MTY].

19 ותפשו בו אביו ואמו והוציאו אתו אל זקני עירו ואל שער מקמו

If that happens, his parents must take him to the (gate of/central meeting place in) the city where he lives and have him stand in front of the elders of the city.

20 ואמרו אל זקני עירו בננו זה סורר ומרה--איננו שמע בקלנו זולל וסבא

Then the parents must say to the elders of that city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and always rebelling against us. He will not pay attention to what we tell him [MTY]. He wastes a lot of money (OR, eats too much food) and gets drunk.’

21 ורגמהו כל אנשי עירו באבנים ומת ובערת הרע מקרבך וכל ישראל ישמעו ויראו

Then all the elders of that city must execute him by throwing stones at him. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you. And everyone in Israel will hear [about what happened] and they will be afraid [to do what he did].”

22 וכי יהיה באיש חטא משפט מות--והומת ותלית אתו על עץ

“If someone is executed for having committed a crime for which he deserves to die, and you hang his corpse on a post,

23 לא תלין נבלתו על העץ כי קבור תקברנו ביום ההוא--כי קללת אלהים תלוי ולא תטמא את אדמתך אשר יהוה אלהיך נתן לך נחלה

you must not allow his corpse to remain there all night. You must bury it on the day that he died, because [God] has cursed anyone whose corpse is allowed to remain on a post. [You must bury the corpse that day], in order that you do not defile the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you.”