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Deuteronomy 19 Bible study: Prepare the way
Deuteronomy told Israel to make the road to refuge ready ("You shall prepare the way", 19:3), required two or three witnesses for "any iniquity" (19:15), words Jesus used for a brother who sins against you (Matthew 18:16), and turned a false witness's plan back on himself: "you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother" (19:19).
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“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.”
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“In Deuteronomy 19, the example of killing by accident is an ax head that slips from its handle.”
Is that in Deuteronomy 19, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The way made ready
Numbers 35 gave the law of the cities of refuge, and Moses has already set apart the three east of the Jordan (4:41-43). Deuteronomy 19 gives the other three, "in the middle of your land" (19:2), and adds what Numbers didn't say: "You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which the LORD your God causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there" (19:3). The reason is the road. Otherwise "the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long" (19:6). And the aim: "This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you" (19:10). Numbers had said that blood "pollutes the land" (Numbers 35:33); Deuteronomy says innocent blood would leave "blood guilt on you" (19:10).
Where it leads to Jesus
Take one or two more with you
Deuteronomy 19:15leads toMatthew 18:16
"At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established" (19:15). Jesus used these words for a brother who sins against you: first "go, show him his fault between you and him alone" (Matthew 18:15); then "if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established" (Matthew 18:16); then "tell it to the assembly" (Matthew 18:17). The WEB words it a little differently: Moses has "two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses" and "a matter", Jesus "two or three witnesses" and "every word". The Hebrew behind "matter" is davar, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives first as "speech, word". "Established" is in 19:15, not in 17:6. Paul quotes the same words: "At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (2 Corinthians 13:1).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Deuteronomy 19
That was a taste
The rest of Deuteronomy 19 is waiting in Favor
- An ax head, and a different word
- Two or three, for any sin
- The liar gets what he planned
- The neighbor's landmark
- Hear, and fear
- Witnesses at Jesus' trial
- 11 questions as you read
- 10 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Deuteronomy 19 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
גְּבוּלgevulsay ge-VOOL
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "border, boundary, territory". Strong's: "properly, a cord (as twisted), i.e. (by implication) a boundary; by extension the territory inclosed". It comes three times in this chapter, with three English words. The land's "borders" are divided into three parts for the cities (19:3). If the LORD "enlarges your border", three more cities are to be added (19:8-9). And "You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark" (19:14). The same word marks out the whole land and one neighbor's share of it. In 19:14 the verb for what "they of old time have set" is gaval, the verb Strong's gives for this noun ("from 1379").
For your group
Deuteronomy 19 Bible study questions
- 1Israel was to "prepare the way" so someone in trouble could reach safety before it was too late (19:3, 19:6). Who in your life needs a clear, easy way to you, and what might be in the way?
- 2Jesus used this chapter's words about witnesses, but he began with "go, show him his fault between you and him alone" (Matthew 18:15). Is there someone you need to go to that way, and what makes it hard?
- 3The false witness was to receive what he "had thought to do to his brother" (19:19). If what you say about others came back on you, what would you say differently this week?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Deuteronomy 19 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home