Deuteronomy 21:8 meaning and explanation
Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.
Deuteronomy 21:8, Berean Standard Bible
Explanation preview
These are the words the elders of the city nearest an unsolved killing speak over a heifer whose neck was broken in a valley with running water, after they have washed their hands and declared their innocence (verses 1 to 7). The rite addresses corporate guilt: the community cannot identify the murderer, so it asks God to accept atonement (Hebrew kaphar, to cover or make expiation) and not to count the shedding of innocent blood against the whole people.
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