English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 21:8
8Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.'
Deuteronomy 21:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood.
- New Living Translation (NLT)O Lord, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed. Do not charge your people with the guilt of murdering an innocent person.’ Then they will be absolved of the guilt of this person’s blood.
Context of Deuteronomy 21:8
6And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7and they shall testify, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.' 9So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. 10"When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive,
Read all of Deuteronomy 21Deuteronomy 21:8 word by word
כַּפֵּר֩ לְעַמְּךָ֨ יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל אֲשֶׁר־פָּדִ֙יתָ֙ יְהוָ֔ה וְאַל־תִּתֵּן֙ דָּ֣ם נָקִ֔י בְּקֶ֖רֶב עַמְּךָ֣ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְנִכַּפֵּ֥ר לָהֶ֖ם הַדָּֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Be mercifulכִּפֶּרkâphar · to atoneH3722
- O Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- unto thy peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- whom thou hast redeemedפָּדָהpâdâh · to ransomH6299
- and layנָתַןnâthan · to give: putH5414
- not innocentנָקִיnâqîy nâqîy' · innocentH5355
- bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
- chargeקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 21:8
- Numbers 35:33You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
- 2 Samuel 3:28Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner.
- 2 Kings 24:4and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon.
- Psalms 19:12Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
- Jeremiah 26:15Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."
- Ezekiel 23:3They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled.
- Jonah 1:14Therefore they called out to the Lord, "O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you."
- Matthew 23:35so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 21:8
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-8A family member seeking revenge could not blame the entire community (19:6–7; Numbers 35:16–29).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-91-6. 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…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 21:8
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