If,
in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess,1
a body is found lying in open country, and it is not known who struck
the person down, then your elders and your judges shall come out to
measure the distances to the towns that are near the body. The elders
of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been
worked, one that has not pulled in the yoke; the elders of that town
shall bring the heifer down to a wadi with running water, which is
neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in
the wadi.2
Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord
your God has chosen them to minister to him and to pronounce
blessings in the name of the Lord, and by their decision all cases of
dispute and assault shall be settled.3
All the elders of that town nearest the body shall wash their hands
over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi, and they shall
declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor were we witnesses
to it.4
Absolve, O Lord, your people Israel, whom you redeemed; do not let
the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of your people
Israel.”5
Then they will be absolved of bloodguilt. So you shall purge the
guilt of innocent blood from your midst,6
because you must do what is right in the sight of the
Lord.
1 The backdrop of all this law is the fact that it occurs within the land that God has given them – a theme so pervasive I almost forget to notice at times.
1 The backdrop of all this law is the fact that it occurs within the land that God has given them – a theme so pervasive I almost forget to notice at times.
2
This has the feeling of veering closer to the religious cleansing
laws than the just judicial processes that were clarified in the
previous passages
3
The “religious” and “judicial” functions are blended
together so well.
4
Now we find something recognizable as a “judicial” element.
5
Which moves directly into a religious plea.
6
Now the “guilt” has been purged. Atonement theorists could
probably have a lot to talk about with this one.
Take-home: The shedding of innocent blood is an act displeasing to God and must be dealt with attentively even when no perpetrator can be found.
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