Ulangan 21:1

Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder

21:1 If a homicide victim ¹  should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, ²  and no one knows who killed ³  him,

Ulangan 32:42

32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

and my sword will devour flesh –

the blood of the slaughtered and captured,

the chief ⁴  of the enemy’s leaders!’”

Ulangan 33:11

33:11 Bless, O Lord, his goods,

and be pleased with his efforts;

undercut the legs ⁵  of any who attack him,

and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.

[21:1]  ¹ tn Heb “slain [one].” The term חָלָל (khalal) suggests something other than a natural death (cf. Num 19:16; 23:24; Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15; 30:24; 31:17-18).

[21:1]  ² tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess it,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ³ tn Heb “struck,” but in context a fatal blow is meant; cf. NLT “who committed the murder.”

[32:42]  ⁴ tn Or “head” (the same Hebrew word can mean “head” in the sense of “leader, chieftain” or “head” in the sense of body part).

[33:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “smash the sinews [or “loins,” so many English versions].” This part of the body was considered to be center of one’s strength (cf. Job 40:16; Ps 69:24; Prov 31:17; Nah 2:2, 11). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 325.