Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 21:1-9

"If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him; then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 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; and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer`s neck there in the valley. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Forgive, O Jehovah, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah." — Deuteronomy 21:1-9 (ASV)

Deuteronomy 21:1–9. UNDETECTED HOMICIDES.

If one is found slain — It is remarkable that in our own time, the most effective remedy against outrages for which the perpetrators cannot be discovered is a fine upon the district in which they occur.

Your elders and your judges shall come forth. — Rashi says these were to be special commissioners, members of the great Sanhedrin.

An heifer, which has not been wrought with... a rough valley which is neither eared nor sown. — Rashi’s note on this is curious: “The Holy One, blessed be He! said, ‘A yearling heifer which has borne no fruit shall come and be beheaded in a place which yields no fruit, to atone for the murder of the man whom they did not allow to bear fruit.’ Some have thought that the valley was neither to be eared (ploughed) nor sown from that time forward.”

The verbs are not past in the Hebrew, and the words may bear this meaning. If so, the district in which the murder occurred would be penalized by the loss of that portion of land forever.

And the priests. — See on Deuteronomy 21:8.

Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. — “Not that the chief magistrates of the city are supposed to have shed this blood; but that they have not contrived or procured the murder by any maintenance or partnership in the deed” (Rashi). We cannot but feel how impossible such solemn public declarations would be if the murderer had been harboured by the inhabitants of the place.

Be merciful, O Lord. — This is in the sense of the publican’s prayer in Luke 18:13, “be propitiated,” literally, cover. The mercy seat is the “covering” of the Law, which protects Israel from it. The sacrifices are a “covering” for the sinner from the punishment of sin.

According to Rashi, the prayer in the eighth verse is spoken by the priests, and this seems probable enough. No part in the transaction is assigned to them unless it is this prayer, and their presence was certainly necessary.

And the blood shall be forgiven them. — Literally, shall be covered for them. This is not the same expression as in Leviticus 4:20, Leviticus 4:26, Leviticus 4:31, and Leviticus 4:35. But we can hardly follow the Jewish commentators into the question of whether, if the perpetrator of the murder were afterwards discovered, the blood of the heifer which had already been shed could be allowed to atone for it, so that the murderer would not need to be punished.