Deuteronomy 21:1

If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel on the threshold of the Promised Land, establishing protocol for unexplained deaths in the territory Yahweh is giving them.

The words — חָלָל (cha.Lal) translates as “[one] slain,” and יִמָּצֵא (yi.ma.Tze') means “it will be found.” The phrasing marks the discovery of an unclaimed corpse in cultivated ground.

The thread — The insistence that bloodshed demands divine and communal reckoning runs through Isaiah 26:21, Psalm 5:6, and Psalm 9:12.

Why it lands — It requires the community to treat unexplained violence as a legal and territorial breach that mandates investigation and formal accountability.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כִּי־ki-if יִמָּצֵ֣אyi.ma.Tze'it will be found חָלָ֗לcha.Lal[one] slain בָּאֲדָמָה֙ba./'a.da.Mahin the/ land אֲשֶׁר֩'a.Sherwhich יְהוָ֨הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ'e.lo.Hei./khaGod/ your נֹתֵ֤ןno.Ten[is] about to giveלְךָ֙le./Khato <the>/ youלְרִשְׁתָּ֔הּle./rish.Ta/hto/ take possession of/ it נֹפֵ֖לno.Fellying בַּשָּׂדֶ֑הba./sa.Dehin the/ open country לֹ֥אlo'not נוֹדַ֖עno.Da'it is known מִ֥יmiwho?הִכָּֽהוּ׃hi.Ka./hudid he strike/ him

King James Version

If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

Cross-references

Isaiah 26:21 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
Psalms 5:6 You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
Psalms 9:12 For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
Proverbs 28:17 A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
Acts 28:4 When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”