Deuteronomy 21:16 Kommentar

In this chapter provision is made, I. For the putting away of the guilt of blood from the land, when he that shed it had fled from justice (Deu 21:1-9). II. For the preserving of the honour of a captive maid (Deu 21:10-14). III. For the securing of the right of a first-born son, though he were not a favourite (Deu 21:15-17). IV. For the restraining and punishing of a rebellious son (Deu 21:18-21). V. For the maintaining of the honour of human bodies, which must not be hanged in chains, but decently buried, even the bodies of the worst malefactors (Deu 21:22, Deu 21:23).

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 21 This chapter treats of the beheading of the heifer, for the expiation of unknown murder, and the rules to be observed in it, Deu 21:1 of a beautiful captive woman an Israelite is desirous of having for his wife, and what methods he must take to accomplish it, Deu 21:10, of giving the double portion to the firstborn, which he must not be deprived of in favour of the son of a beloved wife, Deu 21:15 and of the stubborn and rebellious son, who remaining so must be put to death, Deu 21:18 and of burying a person hanged on a tree the same day he is executed, Deu 21:22.

Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath,.... By a will in writing, or byword of mouth, or by a deed of gift, actually bestowing his goods upon them, and dividing among them what he is for the present possessed of; see Luk 15:12, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn; that is, when such is the case, that the son of his wife he has the least value for is really his firstborn, he may not, through favour and affection to the wife he loves better, prefer her son, and declare him to be the firstborn, by devising to him or bestowing on him the double portion of his goods; for so to do would not be right, or agreeably to the will and law of God; for though previous to this law the birthright was given to Joseph, the eldest son of Rachel, the most beloved wife of Jacob, before Reuben who was the son of Leah, less beloved by him, and was in fact his firstborn; yet this was owing to the sin of Reuben, and by the appointment of God; see Gen 49:3.

EXPIATION OF UNCERTAIN MURDER. (Deu 21:1-9) If one be found slain . . . lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him--The ceremonies here ordained to be observed on the discovery of a slaughtered corpse show the ideas of sanctity which the Mosaic law sought to associate with human blood, the horror which murder inspired, as well as the fears that were felt lest God should avenge it on the country at large, and the pollution which the land was supposed to contract from the effusion of innocent, unexpiated blood. According to Jewish writers, the Sanhedrin, taking charge of such a case, sent a deputation to examine the neighborhood. They reported to the nearest town to the spot where the body was found. An order was then issued by their supreme authority to the elders or magistrates of that town, to provide the heifer at the civic expense and go through the appointed ceremonial. The engagement of the public authorities in the work of expiation, the purchase of the victim heifer, the conducting it to a "rough valley" which might be at a considerable distance, and which, as the original implies, was a wady, a perennial stream, in the waters of which the polluting blood would be wiped away from the land, and a desert withal, incapable of cultivation; the washing of the hands, which was an ancient act symbolical of innocence--the whole of the ceremonial was calculated to make a deep impression on the Jewish, as well as on the Oriental, mind generally; to stimulate the activity of the magistrates in the discharge of their official duties; to lead to the discovery of the criminal, and the repression of crime.