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Deuteronomy 21:4-6
New English Translation
Deuteronomy 21:4-6
New English Translation
4 and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water,[a] to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown.[b] There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5 Then the Levitical priests[c] will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name,[d] and to decide[e] every judicial verdict[f]) , 6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse[g] must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.[h]
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- Deuteronomy 21:4 tn The combination “a wadi with flowing water” is necessary because a wadi (נַחַל, nakhal) was ordinarily a dry stream or riverbed. For this ritual, however, a perennial stream must be chosen so that there would be fresh, rushing water.
- Deuteronomy 21:4 sn The unworked heifer, fresh stream, and uncultivated valley speak of ritual purity—of freedom from human contamination.
- Deuteronomy 21:5 tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”
- Deuteronomy 21:5 tn Heb “in the name of the Lord.” See note on Deut 10:8. The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
- Deuteronomy 21:5 tn Heb “by their mouth.”
- Deuteronomy 21:5 tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”
- Deuteronomy 21:6 tn Heb “slain [one].”
- Deuteronomy 21:6 tn Heb “wadi,” a seasonal watercourse through a valley.
Deuteronomy 21:4-6
New International Version
Deuteronomy 21:4-6
New International Version
4 and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5 The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings(A) in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.(B) 6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands(C) over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
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