Deuteronomy 21:3

Contemporary English Version

The leaders from that town will go to their cattle herds and choose a young cow that has never been put to work.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work.

Hebrew Names Version
and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the Zakenim of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;

King James Version
And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

Lexham English Bible
And then the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with in the field, that has not pulled a yoke,

English Standard Version
And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke.

New Century Version
The elders of the city nearest the body must take a young cow that has never worked or worn a yoke,

New English Translation
Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked—that has never pulled with the yoke—

Amplified Bible
"It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the dead man shall take a heifer of the herd, one which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke;

New American Standard Bible
"And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the person killed, that is, that the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked and has not pulled in a yoke;

Geneva Bible (1587)
Aud let ye Elders of that citie, which is next vnto the slaine man, take out of the droue an heifer that hath not bene put to labour, nor hath drawen in the yoke.

Legacy Standard Bible
And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke;

Complete Jewish Bible
After it has been determined which town is the closest, the leaders of that town are to take a young female cow that has never been put to work or yoked for use as a draft animal.

Darby Translation
and the city that is nearest unto him that is slain, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer that hath not been wrought with, that hath not drawn in the yoke;

Easy-to-Read Version
When you learn which town is nearest to the dead body, the leaders of that town must take a cow from their herds. It must be a cow that never had a calf and that has never been used for work.

George Lamsa Translation
And the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer which has never been used for work nor has pulled in the yoke,

Good News Translation
Then the leaders of the town nearest to where the body was found are to select a young cow that has never been used for work.

Literal Translation
And it shall be, that the city nearest to the one slain, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Loke which cite is the nexte, ye Elders of the same shal take a yoge cowe, which hath not bene laboured, ner hath drawe in the yocke,

American Standard Version
and it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

Bible in Basic English
And whichever town is nearest to the body, the responsible men of that town are to take from the herd a young cow which has never been used for work or put under the yoke;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And let the elders of that citie which is next vnto the slayne man, take out of the droue an heyffer that hath not ben put to labour, nor hath drawen in the yoke:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke.

King James Version (1611)
And it shall be that the citie which is next vnto the slaine man, euen the Elders of that citie shall take an heifer which hath not bene wrought with, and which hath not drawen in the yoke.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not laboured, and which has not borne a yoke.

English Revised Version
and it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

Berean Standard Bible
Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and the eldre men of that citee, `which thei seen to be neer than othere, schulen take of the droue a cow calf, that `drow not yok, nether kittide the erthe with a schar;

Young's Literal Translation
and it hath been, the city which [is] near unto the slain one, even the elders of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in the yoke,

Update Bible Version
and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been wrought with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;

Webster's Bible Translation
And it shall be [that] the city [which is] next to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been wrought with, [and] which hath not drawn in the yoke;

World English Bible
and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;

New King James Version
And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke.

New Living Translation
When the nearest town has been determined, that town's elders must select from the herd a heifer that has never been trained or yoked to a plow.

New Life Bible
The leaders of the city that is nearest to the dead man will take a young cow from the cattle. The cow must never have been worked or pulled a plow.

New Revised Standard
The elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked, one that has not pulled in the yoke;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and it shall be that the city that is nearest unto the slain, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in a yoke;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,

Revised Standard Version
and the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer which has never been worked and which has not pulled in the yoke.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"It shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke;

Contextual Overview

¹ Moses said to Israel: Suppose the body of a murder victim is found in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, and no one knows who the murderer is. ² The judges and other leaders from the towns around there must find out what town is the closest to where the body was found. ³ The leaders from that town will go to their cattle herds and choose a young cow that has never been put to work. ⁴They and some of the priests will take this cow to a nearby valley where there is a stream, but no crops. Once they reach the valley, the leaders will break the cow's neck. The priests must be there, because the Lord your God has chosen them to be his special servants at the place of worship. The Lord has chosen them to bless the people in his name and to be judges in all legal cases, whether property or injury is involved. ⁶ The town leaders will wash their hands over the body of the dead cow ⁷ and say, "We had no part in this murder, and we don't know who did it. ⁸But since an innocent person was murdered, we beg you, our Lord , to accept this sacrifice and forgive Israel. We are your people, and you rescued us. Please don't hold this crime against us." If you obey the Lord and do these things, he will forgive Israel.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

an: Numbers 19:2, Jeremiah 31:18, Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 2:8

Reciprocal: Leviticus 4:15 - the elders

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
But God answered: No! You and Sarah will have a son. His name will be Isaac, and I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants.

Genesis 21:6
and Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Now everyone will laugh with me.

Genesis 21:12
But God said, "Abraham, don't worry about your slave woman and the boy. Just do what Sarah tells you. Isaac will inherit your family name,

Genesis 22:2
The Lord said, "Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar."

Joshua 24:3
But I brought Abraham across the Euphrates River and led him through the land of Canaan. I blessed him by giving him Isaac, the first in a line of many descendants.

Matthew 1:2
From Abraham to King David, his ancestors were: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers (Judah's sons were Perez and Zerah, and their mother was Tamar), Hezron; Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse, and King David. From David to the time of the exile in Babylonia, the ancestors of Jesus were: David, Solomon (his mother had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram; Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers.

Acts 7:8
God said to Abraham, "Every son in each family must be circumcised to show that you have kept your agreement with me." So when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. Later, Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons.

Romans 9:7
In fact, when God made the promise to Abraham, he meant only Abraham's descendants by his son Isaac. God was talking only about Isaac when he promised

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man,.... And so suspected, as the Targum of Jonathan, of the murder; or the murderer is in it, or however belonged to it:

even the elders of the city shall take an heifer; of a year old, as the same Targum, and so Jarchi; and in this the Jewish writers agree, that it must be a year old, but not two; though heifers of three years old were sometimes used in sacrifice, Genesis 15:9 a type of Christ, in his strength, laboriousness, and patience; see Numbers 19:2

which hath not been wrought with; in ploughing land, or treading out corn:

and which hath not drawn in the yoke, which never had any yoke put upon it; or however, if attempted to be put upon it, it would not come under it, and draw with it: no mention is made, as usual, that it should be without blemish: because though in some sense expiatory, yet was not properly a sacrifice, it not being slain and offered where sacrifices were; hence it is said in the Misnah q, that a blemish in it did not make it rejected, or unlawful for use: nevertheless, this heifer may be a type of Christ, whose sufferings, bloodshed, and death, atone for secret and unknown sins, as well as for open and manifest ones, even for all sin; and its being free from labour, and without a yoke, may signify the freedom of Christ from the yoke of sin, and the service of it, and from human traditions; that he was not obliged to any toil and labour he had been concerned in, or to bear the yoke of the law, had he not voluntarily undertaken it of himself; and that he expiated the sins of such who were sons of Belial, children without a yoke; and for the same reason, this heifer not being required to be without blemish, might be because Christ, though he had no sin of his own, was made sin for his people, and reckoned as if he had been a sinner; though indeed, had this been the design of the type, all the sacrifices which typified Christ would not have required such a qualification, to be without blemish, as they did.

q Ut supra, (Sotah, c. 9.) sect. 5.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The requirements as regards place and victim are symbolic. The heifer represented the murderer, so far at least as to die in his stead, since he himself could not be found. As hearing his guilt the heifer must therefore be one which was of full growth and strength, and had not yet been ceremonially profaned by human use. The Christian commentators find here a type of Christ and of His sacrifice for man: but the heifer was not strictly a sacrifice or sin-offering. The transaction was rather figurative, and was so ordered as to impress the lesson of Genesis 9:5.