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Deuteronomy 21 Bible study: Not all night on the tree
When no one knew who shed the blood, the nearest city's elders washed their hands and prayed, "Forgive, LORD, your people Israel" (21:8). And the law that a hanged man "is accursed of God" (21:23) is the law Paul quotes when he writes that Christ became "a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13).
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“Forgive, LORD, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood among your people Israel.” The blood shall be forgiven them.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Deuteronomy 21:22, the man is put to death before he is hanged on a tree.”
Is that in Deuteronomy 21, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
A killing no one can solve
The chapter opens with a body "lying in the field", and "it isn’t known who has struck him" (21:1). The elders and judges measure to the cities around (21:2), and the elders of the nearest city are the ones who act. They take "a heifer of the herd, which hasn’t been worked with and which has not drawn in the yoke" (21:3) down "to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown", and "break the heifer’s neck there in the valley" (21:4). The priests come near (21:5). The elders "wash their hands over the heifer" (21:6) and say, "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it" (21:7). They don't stop at their own innocence. They pray for the whole people: "Forgive, LORD, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood among your people Israel" (21:8). And the chapter answers, "The blood shall be forgiven them" (21:8).
Where it leads to Jesus
A curse for us
Deuteronomy 21:23leads toGalatians 3:13
The law says of a man put to death and hanged, "his body shall not remain all night on the tree… for he who is hanged is accursed of God" (21:23). Paul quotes it of Jesus: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’" (Galatians 3:13), "that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:14). The WEB words Paul's quotation differently from 21:23, with "everyone who hangs" and without "of God". In Acts, Peter and the apostles speak of Jesus "whom you killed, hanging him on a tree" (Acts 5:30), and Peter says it again (Acts 10:39); neither passage cites this law.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Deuteronomy 21
That was a taste
The rest of Deuteronomy 21 is waiting in Favor
- Three laws inside one house
- Love can't move the firstborn's share
- After death, and not all night
- A loved wife and a hated wife, in Jacob's house
- Put away from among you
- Taken down before night
- 13 questions as you read
- 13 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 21 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
קְלָלָהqelalahsay qe-la-LAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "curse". Strong's: "vilification". "For he who is hanged is accursed of God" (21:23). In Hebrew the words are qilelat Elohim, a curse of God. It is the word of "a blessing and a curse" (11:26). Paul quotes this law when he writes, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’" (Galatians 3:13); the WEB words his quotation differently from 21:23, without "of God".
For your group
Deuteronomy 21 Bible study questions
- 1The elders hadn't shed the blood (21:7), yet they prayed, "Forgive, LORD, your people Israel" (21:8). Is there a wrong near you that you didn't do but could still pray about for everyone's sake?
- 2A father could not let his love for one wife decide which son was the firstborn (21:16-17). Where are you tempted to let the people you like best decide what's fair?
- 3Paul writes, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). What does it mean to you that he became a curse "for us"?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Deuteronomy 21 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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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