New English Translation
Deuteronomy 21:5
5Then the Levitical priests will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, and to decide every judicial verdict)
Deuteronomy 21:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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:
- New International Version (NIV)The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled.
Context of Deuteronomy 21:5
3Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked – that has never pulled with the yoke – 4and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water, to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. Then the Levitical priests will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, and to decide every judicial verdict) 6and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 7Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we witnessed the crime.
Read all of Deuteronomy 21Deuteronomy 21:5 word by word
וְנִגְּשׁ֣וּ הַכֹּהֲנִים֮ בְּנֵ֣י לֵוִי֒ כִּ֣י בָ֗ם בָּחַ֞ר יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ לְשָׁ֣רְת֔וֹ וּלְבָרֵ֖ךְ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהוָ֑ה וְעַל־פִּיהֶ֥ם יִהְיֶ֖ה כָּל־רִ֥יב וְכָל־נָֽגַע׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
- the sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- of Leviלֵוִיlêvîy · LeviH3878
- shall come nearנָגַשׁnâgash · to approach: approachH5066
- for them the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- hath chosenבָּחַרbâchar · to chooseH977
- to ministerשָׁרַתshârath · to ministerH8334
- unto him, and to blessבָּרַךְbârak · to blessH1288
- in the nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
- and by their wordפֶּהpeh · lip: wordH6310
- shall every controversyרִיבrîyb rib · strifeH7379
- and every strokeנֶ֫גַעnega‛ · plagueH5061
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 21:5
- Deuteronomy 10:8At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings in his name, as they do to this very day.
- Deuteronomy 18:5For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently.
- Numbers 6:22The Lord spoke to Moses:
- 1 Chronicles 23:13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were chosen on a permanent basis to consecrate the most holy items, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to serve him, and to praise his name.
- Deuteronomy 17:8If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, legal claim, or assault – matters of controversy in your villages – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses.
- Malachi 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 21:5
- 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 21:5
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
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