Deuteronomy19
New King James Version
1“When the Lord your God has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses,
2you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
3You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there.
4“And this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him in time past—
5as when a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live;
6lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past.
7Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall separate three cities for yourself.’
8“Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers,
9and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three,
10lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
11“But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,
12then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.
14“You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
15“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.
16If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,
17then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.
18And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother,
19then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.
20And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you.
21Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 19.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The cities of refuge, The man-slayer, The murderer. (1–13). Landmarks not to be removed. (14). The punishment of false witnesses. (15–21).
vv1-13
Here is the law settled between the blood of the murdered, and the blood of the murderer; provision is made, that the cities of refuge should be a protection, so that a man should not die for that as a crime, which was not his willing act. In Christ, the Lord our Righteousness, refuge is provided for those who by faith flee unto him. But there is no refuge in Jesus Christ for presumptuous sinners, who go on still in their trespasses. Those who flee to Christ from their sins, shall be safe in him, but not those who expect to be sheltered by him in their sins.
v14
Direction is given to fix landmarks in Canaan. It is the will of God that every one should know his own; and that means should be used to hinder the doing and suffering of wrong. This, without doubt, is a moral precept, and still binding. Let every man be content with his own lot, and be just to his neighbours in all things.
vv15-21
Sentence should never be passed upon the testimony of one witness alone. A false witness should suffer the same punishment which he sought to have inflicted upon the person he accused. Nor could any law be more just. Let all Christians not only be cautious in bearing witness in public, but be careful not to join in private slanders; and let all whose consciences accuse them of crime, without delay flee for refuge to the hope set before them in Jesus Christ.
Key Words
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
כָּרַת: to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication, to destroy or consume; specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces)
גּוֹי: a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
יָרַשׁ: to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin
יָשַׁב: properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry
עִיר: a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)
בַּיִת: a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)
Cross References
Deuteronomy 19Establishes the foundation of lex talionis (life for life, eye for eye) for civil justice.
Supported by JFB
Expressly forbids removing ancient landmarks, reinforcing the permanence of ancestral property boundaries.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Condemns the wicked who remove landmarks, demonstrating the moral weight of this law.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Prophetic warning comparing the princes of Judah to those who remove landmarks.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Direct law parallel for retribution of injuries, specifying eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
Supported by JFB
Specifies setting aside three cities beyond Jordan and three in Canaan.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Records Moses already setting apart the first three cities east of Jordan.
Supported by JFB
The historical fulfillment of setting apart the remaining three cities west of Jordan.
Supported by JFB
The original Abrahamic covenant promise regarding the full enlargement of Israel's borders.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Reiterates the promised enlargement of Israel's border to the River Euphrates.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Christ applies the two-or-three witnesses rule to church discipline.
Paul cites this law to establish judicial order in spiritual matters.
Contrasts accidental manslaughter with premeditated murder, where the killer is dragged from God's altar.
Pronounces a formal curse on anyone who removes their neighbor's landmark.
Applies the witness rule to show the severity of rejecting Moses' law.