English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 21:22
22"And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
Deuteronomy 21:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And 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:
- New International Version (NIV)If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole,
- New King James Version (NKJV)“If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
- New Living Translation (NLT)“If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree,
Context of Deuteronomy 21:22
20and they shall say to 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.' 21Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Read all of Deuteronomy 21Deuteronomy 21:22 word by word
וְכִֽי־יִהְיֶ֣ה בְאִ֗ישׁ חֵ֛טְא מִשְׁפַּט־מָ֖וֶת וְהוּמָ֑ת וְתָלִ֥יתָ אֹת֖וֹ עַל־עֵֽץ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 21:22
- 2 Samuel 4:12And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
- Joshua 8:29And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.
- Joshua 10:26And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening.
- Numbers 25:4And the Lord said to Moses, "Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel."
- Deuteronomy 19:6lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past.
- Deuteronomy 22:26But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor,
- 1 Samuel 26:16This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is and the jar of water that was at his head."
- Matthew 26:66What is your judgment?" They answered, "He deserves death."
- Acts 23:29I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.
- Acts 25:11If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar."
- Acts 26:31And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, "This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment."
- 2 Samuel 21:6let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord." And the king said, "I will give them."
- Luke 23:33And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
- John 19:31Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 21:22
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22There were four methods of execution in use among the ancient Jews; stoning (Exodus 17:4; Deuteronomy 13:10, etc.), burning Leviticus 20:14; Leviticus 21:9, the sword Exodus 32:27, and strangulation. The latter, though not named in Scripture, is regarded by the rabbis as the most common, and the proper one to be adopted when no other is expressly enjoined by the Law. Suspension, whether from cross, stake, or gallows, was not used as a mode of taking life…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-23Verses 22-23 By the law of Moses, the touch of a dead body was defiling, therefore dead bodies must not be left hanging, as that would defile the land. There is one reason here which has reference to Christ; "He that is hanged is accursed of God;" that is, it is the highest degree of disgrace and reproach. Those who see a man thus hanging between heaven and earth, will conclude him abandoned of both, and unworthy of either. Moses, by the Spirit, uses this…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22hang his body on a tree: This was not the method of execution, at least in this text. It was a shameful display of those already put to death for severe crimes punishable by death. This was probably to show the Lord's hatred of sin. It also warned others about committing similar acts (see also Genesis 40:19, 22; Joshua 10:26; 2 Samuel 4:12; 21:12; Esther 2:23; 7:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22-2322-23. if a man have committed a sin ... and thou hang him on a tree--Hanging was not a Hebrew form of execution (gibbeting is meant), but the body was not to be left to rot or be a prey to ravenous birds; it was to be buried "that day," either because the stench in a hot climate would corrupt the air, or the spectacle of an exposed corpse bring ceremonial defilement on the land.Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 21:22
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries