seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 21:1 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was, 2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. 3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke 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 in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault. 6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. 8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for, 9 and you will have purged from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
This is from bibletrack.org.
We saw a ritual involving a red heifer back in Numbers 19 for the ceremonial cleansing of those who had touched dead bodies. This is a heifer, but not necessarily red. When a slain body is discovered, the elders of the city closest to the location of the body are obligated to bring a specially-qualified heifer to the site and slay it there with the priests by breaking her neck and offering a prayer that the blood of the slain one not be charged to the innocent people of Israel..
This is from the easy English site.
When somebody carried out a murder, the whole society became not clean. The leaders and judges had to act. The judges had to be certain that the measurement was correct. They killed a cow. God said that its blood covered the sin. The stream would remove the blood of the cow. The priests would tell the leaders what to say. They said it over the body of the animal. They would ask God to forgive the sin. Then there would be no evil results from the murder. And the relatives of the dead man should not get revenge on the city.
In those days, people believed that they shared responsibility. Today many societies do not believe that this is true. So a ceremony like this is not necessary now.
In those days, people believed that they shared responsibility. Today many societies do not believe that this is true. So a ceremony like this is not necessary now.
This is from studylight.org. It puts these verses in a good light.
One man was missing, but he was murdered. His blood, like that of Abel, Was crying for justice. Society was wounded in one of its members. An inquiry was demanded, and the reproach must be wiped away.
Thank you for reading with me and keeping me in the Word every morning.
