Deuteronomy 21:23

Deuteronomy 21:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
• English Standard Version (ESV)his 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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

Context of Deuteronomy 21:23

21Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out wickedness from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid. 22If a person commits a sin punishable by death and is executed, and you hang the corpse on a tree, his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury him that same day, for the one who is left exposed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 21:23 word by word

לֹא־תָלִ֨ין נִבְלָת֜וֹ עַל־הָעֵ֗ץ כִּֽי־קָב֤וֹר תִּקְבְּרֶ֙נּוּ֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא כִּֽי־קִלְלַ֥ת אֱלֹהִ֖ים תָּל֑וּי וְלֹ֤א תְטַמֵּא֙ אֶת־אַדְמָ֣תְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָֽה׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• His bodyנְבֵלָהnebêlâh · carcassH5038
• shall not remain all nightלוּןlûn lîyn · to lodgeH3885
• upon the treeעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
• but thou shalt in any wiseקָבַרqâbar · to buryH6912
• him that dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• for he that is hangedתָּלָהtâlâh · to hangH8518
• accursedקְלָלָהqelâlâh · curseH7045
• of Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• that thy landאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
• be not defiledטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• which the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• givethנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• an inheritanceנַחֲלָהnachălâh · inheritanceH5159

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 21:23

• John 19:31Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an especially important one), the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs broken and the bodies taken down.
• Deuteronomy 7:26You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath along with it. You must absolutely detest and abhor it, for it is an object of divine wrath.
• Numbers 25:4The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.”
• Joshua 7:12The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation. I will no longer be with you, unless you destroy what has contaminated you.
• 2 Samuel 21:6let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.” The king replied, “I will turn them over.”
• Romans 9:3For I could wish that I myself were accursed – cut off from Christ – for the sake of my people, my fellow countrymen,
• Galatians 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)
• 1 Corinthians 16:22Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed. Our Lord, come!
• 2 Corinthians 5:21God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.
• Leviticus 18:25Therefore the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants.
• Numbers 35:33“You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 21:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23His body shall not remain all night upon the tree - Its exposure for the space of one day was judged sufficient. The law which required this answered all the ends of public justice, exposed the shame and infamy of the conduct, but did not put to torture the feelings of humanity by requiring a perpetual exhibition of a human being, a slow prey to the most loathsome process of putrefaction. Did ever the spiking of the heads of state criminals prevent high…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23He that is hanged is accursed of God - i. e. “Bury him that is hanged out of the way before evening: his hanging body defiles the land; for God‘s curse rests on it.” The curse of God is probably regarded as lying on the malefactor because, from the fact of his being hanged, be must have been guilty of a especially atrocious breach of God‘s covenant. Such an offender could not remain on the face of the earth without defiling it (compare Leviticus 18:25…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. 23anyone who is hung (literally a man hung): The ancient Greek version reads for everyone who is hanged on a tree. Compare Galatians 3:13, which explains how this saying applies to Jesus. is under God's curse: Sinners who refuse to repent experience God's judgment. But this saying probably means that people would assume God cursed someone in this condition. In reality, the person might have been misjudged or even killed without a legal trial.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 21:23

• Accursed
• Burial
• Hanging
• Punishment
• Quotations and Allusions
• Sanitation

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• That Day
• Adonizedec
• Controversy
• Crucifixion
• Divers
• Hanging
• Rebellious
• Wrought

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