0 SAB Deuteronomy 21

And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain. 2:34

Trivia: Instructions are given in Deuteronomy 23:13 for covering up feces when defecating. Why is that?

Deuteronomy

CHAPTER 21

What to do with a dead body
21:1-9

21:1If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

Moses continues his instructions to the Israelites, saying,
If you find a dead body and don't know the cause of death,

2Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:

then get all the elders together,

3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

find a heifer that has never done any work,

4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:

5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:

cut off the head of the heifer,

6And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

wash your hands over its body,

7And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

and say,
Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

This procedure will remove the guilty blood from among you.
What to do with women captured in a holy war
21:10-14

10When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,

When you go to war, and God delivers your enemies into your hands,

11And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

and you see a pretty woman among the captives and would like her for a wife,

12Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

bring her home, and have her shave her head and cut her nails.

13And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

After she has spent a month mourning her dead mother and father, you shall "go in unto her."

14And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

Later, if you don't like her, you can "let her go."

What to do if you have two wives
(One that you love and one that you hate)
21:15-17

15If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:

If a man has two wives, one that he loves, and the other that he hates, [1]

and if both wives have born him children,

and if the firstborn son's mother is the wife that he hates,

16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:

17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

then he can't make the son of the beloved wife his firstborn son.

He must give a double portion of his inheritance to the firstborn son of his hated wife.

What to do with a disobedient son
21:18-21, Cf. Ex 21:15-17

18If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey his father or mother,

19Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

then his father and mother will bring him to the elders of the city,

20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

and say,
Our son is stubborn and rebellious, and will not obey us.

He is also a glutton and a drunkard.

21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

And all the men of the city will stone him to death (with stones). [2]

That will put the evil away from you. Everyone will hear, and fear.

How to hang people on trees
21:22-23

22And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:

If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and you hang him on a tree, [3]

23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Don't leave his dead body all night on the tree.

He that is hanged is accursed by God. [4]

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