Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 21:6
Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the assembled Israelites on the plains of Moab, prescribing a civic procedure for an unsolved murder case. The ritual occurs immediately after the Levitical priests present themselves to give a ruling in Deuteronomy 21:5.
The words — The text specifies יִרְחֲצוּ (yir.cha.Tzu), meaning "they will wash," and הֶ/חָלָ֑ל (he./cha.Lal), meaning "the slain one." These terms anchor the required physical action directly to the unidentified victim.
The thread — The washing motif appears in Psalms 26:6 and Psalms 73:13 as a declaration of innocence, while Job 9:30 describes the hypothetical action of washing hands with snow and lye. These passages share the lexical root for washing but apply it to distinct legal or rhetorical situations.
Why it lands — The text commands the elders of the nearest city to wash their hands over a broken-necked heifer to publicly distance themselves from uninvestigated bloodshed. A reader must note that the ritual functions as a legal declaration of non-involvement rather than a personal purification rite.
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
King James Version
And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
Cross-references
- Psalms 26:6 I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,
- Psalms 73:13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.
- Job 9:30 If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,
- Psalms 19:12 Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
- Psalms 51:2 Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
- Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Psalms 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
- Jeremiah 2:22 Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.
- Matthew 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”
- Hebrews 9:10 They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform.