Deuteronomy 19
BSASBMoses gives Israel laws that protect life and keep justice fair in the Promised Land. Cities of refuge shelter a person who kills by accident, but give no cover to a murderer. The chapter then guards property boundaries and sets rules for witnesses, so that the innocent are protected and false accusers are exposed.
Deuteronomy 19:1-2
Once God has given Israel the land and they are settled in it, they must set apart three cities. These are to be places of safety within the land. God’s gift of the land comes with the duty to run it justly and mercifully.
BSA: set apart (“separate, divide”): The cities are consecrated for one purpose: to be refuges, different from ordinary towns.
See also: Numbers 35:9-15.
Deuteronomy 19:3
The people must build roads and divide the land into three regions, so that no one is too far from a refuge. A person running for his life needs a clear, short path. God’s mercy is made easy to reach.
BSA: roads (“a way, a path”): The way to safety must be prepared and kept open, so that mercy can be reached quickly. flee (“escape, run away”): The one who kills by accident runs from danger toward shelter.
See also: Joshua 20:7-8.
Deuteronomy 19:4-5
The law now gives a case. Two men cut wood together, and an axe head flies off and kills one of them. There was no hatred and no plan. Such a man may run to a refuge city and live.
BSA: accidentally (“unawares, without intention”): What matters is the heart: he did not know it would happen and did not plan it. neighbor (“companion, friend”): The dead man was a friend, which shows there was no motive for murder.
Deuteronomy 19:6-7
Without a refuge, the dead man’s close relative might chase the killer in hot anger and kill him, though he did not deserve to die. The refuge cities give anger time to cool and let the case be heard fairly. This is why God commands them.
BSA: avenger of blood (“kinsman redeemer, one who seeks revenge”): This was a family member responsible for answering for a relative’s death. His grief could easily turn into rage. in a rage (“hot anger, fierce passion”): The danger is anger that burns before facts are known.
See also: Numbers 35:12.
Deuteronomy 19:8-10
If God enlarges Israel’s land as He promised, three more cities are to be added. This depends on Israel keeping His commands and loving Him. The aim is that innocent blood is not shed in the land and the nation is not made guilty.
BSA: loving (“having affection for, being devoted to”): Obedience is meant to flow from devotion to God, not from duty alone. innocent (“morally clean, guiltless”): God cares about the blood of those who have done nothing to deserve death.
See also: Genesis 15:18-21; Deuteronomy 6:5.
Deuteronomy 19:11-13
The refuge is not for a murderer. If a man hates his neighbor, waits in ambush and kills him, the elders of his own city must bring him back and hand him over. Letting him go would leave the land guilty. Justice here protects the whole community.
BSA: lies in wait (“ambushes, sets a trap”): This marks premeditated murder, planned in advance. purge (“remove, put away”): Innocent blood stains a land, and justice cleans it away.
Hebrew: וּבִעַרְתָּ (uvi’arta, H1197) — “and you shall burn out, sweep away.” The Hebrew picture is of clearing out something foul, as one clears away rubbish. Guilt is not to be left lying about in Israel.
See also: Numbers 35:16-21; Genesis 9:6.
Deuteronomy 19:14
Boundary markers fixed by earlier generations show each family’s God-given share of the land. Moving one is quiet theft, and it goes against God’s own gift. This verse is placed here because stealing a man’s inheritance wrongs him as surely as taking his life.
BSA: inheritance (“heritage, possession”): The land is a gift from God to each family, passed down, and not simply property.
See also: Proverbs 22:28; Deuteronomy 27:17.
Deuteronomy 19:15
One witness is never enough to convict someone. A charge must be backed by two or three witnesses. This protects the innocent from lies, grudges and mistakes. Jesus and the apostles later applied the same principle.
BSA: established (“confirmed, verified”): A charge must be firmly confirmed before anyone is condemned.
See also: Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1.
Deuteronomy 19:16-17
When a witness is accused of lying, both sides are to stand before the LORD, at the sanctuary, in front of the priests and judges. The case is treated as a matter before God, not only before men. A false charge is a serious sin.
BSA: stand (“be firmly established, like Moses in Exodus 17:12”): They must stand in a settled and solemn way before God, with nowhere to hide. false (“unrighteous, lying”): The word points to a witness whose testimony is crooked and unjust.
See also: Exodus 20:16.
Deuteronomy 19:18-19
The judges must investigate carefully. If the witness is shown to be a liar, he receives the very punishment he meant for his brother. The law of matching penalty protects people from false accusation and keeps evil out of the community.
BSA: investigate (“make diligent inquisition, seek carefully”): Judges are not to rush. They must search the matter out thoroughly. brother (“close relative, friend”): The false witness has wronged a fellow Israelite, one of his own people.
See also: Proverbs 19:5; Proverbs 19:9.
Deuteronomy 19:20
The punishment has a purpose beyond the one case. When others hear of it, they will be afraid and will not do such evil again. Public justice teaches a whole people to take truth seriously.
BSA: afraid (“fear, revere”): The fear meant here is respect for justice, enough to restrain wrongdoing.
See also: Deuteronomy 17:13.
Deuteronomy 19:21
The chapter ends by repeating the limit on punishment: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Justice must be real and not softened by false pity. It also may not go beyond what the crime deserves. The punishment is to fit the wrong, no more and no less.
BSA: no pity (“have no compassion, not spare”): The judge must not let sympathy for the guilty cause injustice to the victim.
See also: Exodus 21:23-25; Matthew 5:38-39.