Deuteronomy 19:1-21

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 19

v1 ‘The *LORD your God will *destroy the nations whose country he is giving to you. You will force them out. You will live in their towns and houses. v2 Then choose three cities in the country that the *LORD your God is giving to you to possess. They must be easy to reach. v3 Build roads to them. Divide into three parts the country that the *LORD your God is giving to you to possess. Then anyone who kills a person can go to one of those cities.

v4 A man might kill by accident a person who is not his enemy. The man can go to any of those cities to save himself. v5 For example, a man might go into the forest with his neighbour to cut wood. As he is chopping down a tree, the top of his axe might come off. It might hit his neighbour and kill him. That man can go to one of the cities to save himself. v6 A relative of the dead man could get *revenge because of the man’s death. The relative might be very angry. He might run after the man and catch him. Then the relative would kill him. The city was too far for the man to reach. He did not intend to kill his neighbour. So the man did not deserve to die. His neighbour was not his enemy. v7 That is why I order you to choose three cities.’

God ordered the *Israelites to choose three cities on the west of the River Jordan. Those cities would be in addition to the three cities on the east of the River Jordan. They were cities for somebody who had killed another person by accident. The relatives of the dead person must not get *revenge. A judge must decide first whether the killer was guilty. The three cities had to be in places that people could reach easily. Moses gives an example of someone who kills another person by accident. The dead man’s relative must not get *revenge while he was still angry. See the notes on chapter 4:41-43.

v8 ‘The *LORD your God may increase the size of your territory. He told your *ancestors that he would do that. He may give to you all the country that he promised to your*ancestors. v9 He will do that if you obey all these *commandments. You must love the *LORD your God. And you must behave in the way that he has taught you. Then you must select three more cities. v10 Do that so that innocent people will not die in the country. This is the country that the *LORD your God is giving to you to possess. Then you will not be guilty of the death of innocent people.’

The *Israelites never added the extra three cities. God did not give all the country to them because they did not obey him.

v11 ‘Suppose that a man hates his neighbour. So the man hides and waits. Then he attacks his neighbour and hits him. The neighbour dies. Then the first man runs away to one of these cities. v12 The rulers of his town must send for the man. They must bring him back to his town. They must give him to the relative who can get *revenge because of the murder. Then the relative will kill the man. v13 Do not give him any *mercy. Make sure that nobody in *Israel is guilty of an innocent man’s death. Then your life will be good.’

You can read more about these cities in Numbers 35:6-34. Perhaps the man killed someone by accident or perhaps he murdered a person. The rulers of a city would look at the evidence. Then they would decide what to do. If a man murdered someone, the dead person’s relative could kill that man. But the relative could do that only if the man was guilty. However, a man might kill someone by accident. Then he had to stay in the city until the chief priest died. Notice that God wanted *justice. He did not want anybody to kill an innocent person. In the same way, he did not want a guilty person to be free.

v14 ‘Do not move the stone that marks your neighbour’s boundary. Your *ancestors put up those stones in the land long ago. The *LORD your God has given the land to you. It belongs to you.’

This was a serious crime. People needed their land so that they could produce crops. Their crops kept people alive. If people moved the position of the stone, they were stealing somebody’s land. Without their land, people had no method to remain alive.

v15 ‘One *witness is not enough to give evidence against a person about a crime or a *sin. Two or three *witnesses need to prove that a man is guilty.

v16 Suppose that a man wrongly accuses another man about a crime. v17 Both men must stand in front of the *LORD. They must stand in front of the priests and the judges who are serving at that time. v18 The judges will examine the matter carefully. They may find that the *witness has told a lie. He has falsely accused another *Israelite. v19 Then the *witness must receive the punishment that he had intended for the other person. You must remove this evil thing from among you. v20 The rest of the people will hear about this and they will be afraid. Nobody will ever do such a wicked thing again. v21 Do not show any *mercy. The punishment is to be this. Take a life in exchange for a life. Take an eye in exchange for an eye. Take a tooth in exchange for tooth. Take a hand in exchange for a hand. And take a foot in exchange for a foot.’

There were strict laws about evidence in court. There had to be two or three *witnesses to prove that someone was guilty. There were several witnesses when the *Jews were accusing Jesus. However, Mark 14:55-59 says that they did not agree with each other! A false witness received the same punishment as he had intended for his enemy. But this punishment had its limits. It should not be more severe than the crime. That was the principle of *justice that God decided.

In Matthew 5:38, Jesus spoke severely about the *Pharisees. They used this rule in people’s personal relationships. Jesus said that we should be more generous. We should not get *revenge. We should forgive other people.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
destroy ~ to damage something so that it does not continue to exist; to kill people or animals.
revenge ~ to get revenge means to return an injury that someone has done to you. God’s revenge is his desire to give the punishment that a person deserves.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
ancestors ~ people in your family who lived before you.
commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
mercy ~ kindness instead of punishment.
justice ~ when things are completely fair.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Pharisees ~ a group of Jews who thought that they obeyed all the laws of their religion. Those laws were all the commandments that God gave to Moses plus extra laws.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.

Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.