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Sunday, September 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 20 / Ordinary 25
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Read the Bible

Wycliffe Bible

Deuteronomy 21:2

the grettere men in birthe and thi iugis schulen go out, and schulen mete fro the place of the careyn the spaces of alle citees `bi cumpas;

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Church;   Government;   Heifer;   Homicide;   Inquest;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Blood;   Murder;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Sacrifice;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Elder;   Judge;   Priest;   Ruler;   Uncleanness;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Leadership;   Murder;   Priest, Priesthood;   Samuel, First and Second, Theology of;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Alms;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Ablution;   Murder;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Blood;   Murder;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ablutions;   Blood;   Court Systems;   Crimes and Punishments;   Elder;   Heifer;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Clean and Unclean;   Crimes and Punishments;   Deuteronomy;   Elder;   Justice;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Elders;   Heifer;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Blood;   Elder;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Murder;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Heifer;   Heifer, Red;   Homicide;   Joshua (2);   Prayer;   Salvation;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Ablution;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Abrogation of Laws;   Charity and Charitable Institutions;   Elder;   Eleazar B. Dinai;   Government;   Homicide;   Judge;   Nashim;   Saul;   Soá¹­ah;   Teḥina, Abba;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
your elders and judges are to come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby cities.
Hebrew Names Version
then your Zakenim and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain:
King James Version
Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
Lexham English Bible
then your elders and your judges shall go out and shall measure the distance to the cities that are around the slain one.
English Standard Version
then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities.
New Century Version
Your elders and judges should go to where the body was found, and they should measure how far it is to the nearby cities.
New English Translation
your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse.
Amplified Bible
then your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the dead person.
New American Standard Bible
then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the one who was killed.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then thine Elders & thy Iudges shal come forth, and measure vnto the cities that are round about him that is slayne.
Legacy Standard Bible
then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one.
Contemporary English Version
The judges and other leaders from the towns around there must find out what town is the closest to where the body was found.
Complete Jewish Bible
then your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance between it and the surrounding towns.
Darby Translation
then thine elders and thy judges shall go forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain;
Easy-to-Read Version
Your leaders and judges must come out and measure the distance to the towns around the dead body.
George Lamsa Translation
Then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure the distance to the cities which are round about him that is slain;
Good News Translation
Your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance from the place where the body was found to each of the nearby towns.
Literal Translation
then your elders and your judges shall come out. And they shall measure to the cities which are around the one slain.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
then shal thy Elders & iudges go forth, and meet from the slayne vnto the cities that lye rounde aboute.
American Standard Version
then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
Bible in Basic English
Then your responsible men and your judges are to come out, and give orders for the distance from the dead body to the towns round about it to be measured;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then thine elders and thy iudges shal come foorth, and measure vnto the cities that are rounde about hym that is slayne:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain.
King James Version (1611)
Then thy Elders and thy Iudges shall come forth, and they shall measure vnto the cities which are round about him that is slaine.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
thine elders and thy judges shall come forth, and shall measure the distances of the cities round about the slain man:
English Revised Version
then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
Berean Standard Bible
your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.
Young's Literal Translation
then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which [are] round about the slain one,
Update Bible Version
then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are round about him that is slain:
Webster's Bible Translation
Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which [are] around him that is slain:
World English Bible
then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain:
New King James Version
then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities.
New Living Translation
In such a case, your elders and judges must measure the distance from the site of the crime to the nearby towns.
New Life Bible
then your leaders and judges will go out and see how far it is to the cities that are around the dead man.
New Revised Standard
then your elders and your judges shall come out to measure the distances to the towns that are near the body.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
then shall thine elders and thy judges go forth, - and measure unto the cities that are round about the slain;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:
Revised Standard Version
then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure the distance to the cities which are around him that is slain;
New American Standard Bible (1995)
then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one.

Contextual Overview

1 Whanne the careyn of a man slayn is foundun in the lond which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, and `the gilti of sleyng is vnknowun, 2 the grettere men in birthe and thi iugis schulen go out, and schulen mete fro the place of the careyn the spaces of alle citees `bi cumpas; 3 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; 4 and thei schulen lede that cow calf to a scharp `valey, and ful of stoonys, that was neuere erid, nether resseyuede seed; and in that valey thei schulen kitte the heed of the cow calf. 5 And the preestis, the sones of Leuy, schulen neiye, whiche thi Lord God chees, that thei mynystre to hym, and blesse in his name, and al the cause hange at `the word of hem; and what euer thing is cleene ethir vncleene, be demed. 6 And the grettere men in birthe of that citee schulen come to the slayn man, and thei schulen waische her hondis on the cow calf, that was slayn in the valei; 7 and thei schulen seie, Oure hondis schedden not out this blood, nether oure iyen sien. 8 Lord, be mercyful to thi puple Israel, whom thou `ayen brouytist, and arette thou not innocent blood in the myddis of thi puple Israel. And the gilt of blood schal be don awey fro hem. 9 Forsothe thou schalt be alien fro the blood of the innocent which is sched, whanne thou hast do that that the Lord comaundide.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Deuteronomy 16:18, Deuteronomy 16:19, Romans 13:3, Romans 13:4

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 21:19 - and bring

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
And the Lord seide to Abraham, Sara, thi wijf, schal bere a sone to thee, and thou schalt clepe his name Ysaac, and Y schal make my couenaunt to hym in to euerlastynge boond of pees, and to his seed aftir hym;
Genesis 17:21
Forsothe Y schal make my couenaunt to Ysaac, whom Sare schal childe to thee in this tyme in the tother yeer.
Genesis 18:10
To whom the Lord seide, Y schal turne ayen, and Y schal come to thee in this tyme, if Y lyue; and Sare, thi wijf, schal haue a sone. Whanne this was herd, Sare leiyede bihynde the dore of the tabernacle.
Genesis 18:14
whether ony thing is hard to God? Bi the biheeste Y schal turne ayen to thee in this same tyme, if Y lyue; and Sara schal haue a sone.
Genesis 21:16
and sche yede awei, and sche sat euene ayens as fer as a bowe may caste; for sche seide, Y schal not se the child diynge; and sche sat ayens, and reiside hir vois, and wepte.
Genesis 21:17
Forsothe the Lord herde the vois of the child, and the aungel of the Lord clepide Agar fro heuene, and seide, What doist thou, Agar? nyle thou drede, for God hath herd the vois of the child fro the place where ynne he is.
Genesis 21:24
And Abraham seide, Y schal swere.
Genesis 21:25
And he blamyde Abymelech for the pit of watir, which hise seruauntis token awey bi violence.
Luke 1:36
And lo! Elizabeth, thi cosyn, and sche also hath conceyued a sone in hir eelde, and this moneth is the sixte to hir that is clepid bareyn;
Acts 7:8
And he yaf to hym the testament of circumcisioun; and so he gendride Ysaac, and circumcidide hym in the eiyt dai. And Isaac gendride Jacob, and Jacob gendride the twelue patriarkis.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth,.... From the city or cities near to which the murder was committed, to make inquiry about it, and expiation for it; so Aben Ezra interprets it of the elders of the cities near, but others understand it of the elders of the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem; so the Targum of Jonathan,

"then shall go out from the great sanhedrim two of thy wise men, and three of thy judges;''

and more expressly the Misnah l,

"three go out from the great sanhedrim in Jerusalem;''

R. Judah says five,

"it is said "thy elders" two, and "thy judges" two,''

and there is no sanhedrim or court of judicature equal (or even), therefore they add to them one more:

and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain; that is, from the place where the slain lies, as Jarchi rightly interprets it; on all sides of it, from the four corner's, as the Targum of Jonathan, the cities round about the slain. Maimonides m says, they do not behead the heifer for, nor measure, but to a city in which there is a sanhedrim: if it is found between two cities (that is, at an equal distance), both bring two heifers (Maimonides n says they bring one between them, which is most reasonable); but the city of Jerusalem does not bring an heifer to be beheaded: the reason is, because it was not divided to the tribes o. This measuring, one would think, should be only necessary when it was not certain which was the nearest city; and yet Maimonides p says, even when it was found on the side of a city, which was certainly known to be nearest, they measured; the command, he observes, is to measure.

l Sotah, c. 9. sect. 1. m Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 9. sect. 4. n Ib. sect. 8. o Maimon Hilchot Rotzeachs, c. 9. sect. 8. p lb. c. 9. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The elders represented the citizens at large, the judges the magistracy: priests Deuteronomy 21:5 from the nearest priestly town, were likewise to be at hand. Thus, all classes would be represented at the purging away of that blood-guiltiness which until removed attached to the whole community.


 
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