At the time that I write this, the country is enamored with the Lindsey Clancy trial. I didn’t know much about it, but I watched a documentary on it this past weekend, and I was shocked to find out the details of the murders.
Specifics aside, the one relief of the entire ordeal is that there’s no question who the murderer actually was (even if the motive itself is what people are debating). It’s the one established fact of this entire case, which is convenient, since it’s also the most important.
Unsolved murders are hard on everyone—the family, the victim, and the community. Without knowing who did it and why, it’s nearly impossible to guess where it might happen again. It puts everyone on edge until the matter is settled.
Deuteronomy 21 presents a case like that. What do you do when you find someone “slain” (someone who did not die of natural causes, in other words) in the open field? Blood guilt cannot be left unhandled, so Israel needs to do something.
Fortunately, this Text tells Israel the procedure. First, you measure the distance and find the closest city. Then, the elders of the city take an unyoked heifer, take it to a river with running water, and break its neck in the valley. Finally, the priest shows up, and the elders wash their hands in the water while expressing their desire for forgiveness on behalf of the people.
I have a lot of questions. First, is this a sacrifice? Doesn’t seem like it because the elders are the ones breaking the neck, not the priests. Speaking of priests, what’s their role here? Deuteronomy just says that they “come near.” Third, why a heifer? And why specifically one that is unyoked?
I’m probably leaving out a few more, but you get the gist. This is one of those sections in Scripture that cause quite a bit of confusion, even among Jewish experts. It’s even listed among the chukkim—a grouping of laws that everyone must follow, even if they don’t understand the reason why.
Fortunately, the most important part is known. The whole point here is to present a way for a murder to be absolved; otherwise, the bloodguilt would stay on the nation.
What the elders say is particularly interesting: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.” That means that the elders may not have seen what happened, but they are also not standing idly by. They are trying to take care of it the best way that they know how.
The second statement—“forgive your people Israel…and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel”—is a plea to God for Him to forgive. Not just the closest city that handles the ceremony, but all of Israel.