Deuteronomy 21:1-9

Deuteronomy 21:1-9

[1] 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: [2] Then thy elders  and thy judges  shall come forth,  and they shall measure  unto the cities  which are round about  him that is slain:  [3] And it shall be, that the city  which is next  unto the slain man,  even the elders  of that city  shall take  an heifer,  which hath not been wrought with,  and which hath not drawn  in the yoke;  [4] And the elders  of that city  shall bring down  the heifer  unto a rough  valley,  which is neither eared  nor sown,  the heifer's  neck  there in the valley:  [5] And the priests  the sons  of Levi  shall come near;  for them the LORD  thy God  hath chosen  to minister  unto him, and to bless  in the name  of the LORD;  and by their word  shall every controversy  and every stroke  be tried: [6] 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:  [7] And they shall answer  and say,  Our hands  have not shed  this blood,  neither have our eyes  seen  it. [8] Be merciful,  O LORD,  unto thy people  Israel,  whom thou hast redeemed,  and lay  not innocent  blood  unto thy people  of Israel's  charge.  And the blood  shall be forgiven  [9] So shalt thou put away  the guilt of innocent  blood  from among  you, when thou shalt do  that which is right  in the sight  of the LORD. 

What does Deuteronomy 21:1-9 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

"The reason for grouping these five laws [1], which are apparently so different from one another, as well as for attaching them to the previous regulations, is to be found in the desire to bring out distinctly the sacredness of life and of personal rights from every point of view, and impress it upon the covenant nation." [2]
Cities were responsible for murders committed within their jurisdictions. This indicates that there is such a thing as corporate guilt in God"s government. The ritual prescribed removed the pollution caused by bloodshed.
The heifer (young cow) represented the unknown murderer. It was his substitute. It was to be an animal that had not done hard labor; its vital force was undiminished ( Deuteronomy 21:3). The leaders were to take this heifer into an unplowed field in a valley where there was running water and break its neck. The breaking of the neck symbolized the punishment due the murderer but executed on his substitute. The blood of the heifer would fall on unplowed ground that would absorb it. It would disappear rather than turning up at some future date because of plowing. The water cleansed the hands of the elders who had become ritually defiled by the shedding of the sacrifice"s blood. This ritual removed the impurity that would rest on the people of the city because someone they could not find had shed human blood near it. It atoned for this guilt in such a case. One writer explained that the practice of performing rituals to remove impurity from human habitations and human concerns not only occurs in other parts of the Bible, such as Leviticus 10 , 14 , 16,1Samuel5 , but also in the literature of the Hittites and Mesopotamians. [3]