Deuteronomy 21: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Deuteronomy 21 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

If someone is found slain, the elders and judges measure to nearby cities (vv. 1-2). The nearest city’s elders take a heifer, break its neck, and wash their hands to declare innocence (vv.

Key verse

“but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.”
Deuteronomy 21:17 (WEB)

Outline

Deuteronomy 21:1–6 Handling a Slain Person
Deuteronomy 21:7–9 Atonement for Innocence
Deuteronomy 21:10–14 Captives as Wives
Deuteronomy 21:15–17 Firstborn Inheritance Rights
Deuteronomy 21:18–21 Stubborn and Rebellious Sons
Deuteronomy 21:22–23 Hanging and Burial Laws

Discussion questions

In v6, why do the elders wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken?
What does the word 'forgive' in v8 indicate about community responsibility?
In v14, why is the man instructed not to sell the captive woman for money?
In vv. 20-21, what is the implication of calling the son a 'glutton and a drunkard'?
When have you seen or experienced a community take responsibility for an act like 'innocent blood' (v9)?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Deuteronomy 21: Galatians 3, Deuteronomy 19, Deuteronomy 22.

Before next time: read Deuteronomy 22.