Articles on

Deuteronomy 21

Deut. 21:4 KJV (With Strong’s)

+
4
And the elders
zaqen (Hebrew #2205)
old
KJV usage: aged, ancient (man), elder(-est), old (man, men and...women), senator.
Pronounce: zaw-kane'
Origin: from 2204
of that city
`iyr (Hebrew #5892)
or ayar (Judges 10:4) {aw-yar'}; from 5782 a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)
KJV usage: Ai (from margin), city, court (from margin), town.
Pronounce: eer
Origin: or (in the plural) par {awr}
shall bring down
yarad (Hebrew #3381)
a primitive root; to descend (literally, to go downwards; or conventionally to a lower region, as the shore, a boundary, the enemy, etc.; or figuratively, to fall); causatively, to bring down (in all the above applications): --X abundantly, bring down, carry down, cast down, (cause to) come(-ing) down, fall (down), get down, go(-ing) down(-ward), hang down, X indeed, let down, light (down), put down (off), (cause to, let) run down, sink, subdue, take down.
Pronounce: yaw-rad'
the heifer
`eglah (Hebrew #5697)
a (female) calf, especially one nearly grown (i.e. a heifer)
KJV usage: calf, cow, heifer.
Pronounce: eg-law'
Origin: feminine of 5695
unto a rough
'eythan (Hebrew #386)
from an unused root (meaning to continue); permanence; hence (concrete) permanent; specifically a chieftain
KJV usage: hard, mighty, rough, strength, strong.
Pronounce: ay-thawn'
Origin: or (shortened) ethan {ay-thawn'}
valley
nachal (Hebrew #5158)
or nachalah (Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28) {nakh-al-aw'}; from 5157 in its original sense; a stream, especially a winter torrent; (by implication) a (narrow) valley (in which a brook runs); also a shaft (of a mine)
KJV usage: brook, flood, river, stream, valley.
Pronounce: nakh'-al
Origin: or (feminine) nachlah (Psalm 124:4) {nakh'-law}
, which is neither eared
`abad (Hebrew #5647)
to work (in any sense); by implication, to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.
KJV usage: X be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, + husbandman, keep, labour(-ing man, bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve(-ing, self), (be, become) servant(-s), do (use) service, till(-er), transgress (from margin), (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper,
Pronounce: aw-bad'
Origin: a primitive root
nor sown
zara` (Hebrew #2232)
to sow; figuratively, to disseminate, plant, fructify
KJV usage: bear, conceive seed, set with sow(-er), yield.
Pronounce: zaw-rah'
Origin: a primitive root
, and shall strike off
`araph (Hebrew #6202)
properly, to bend downward; but used only as a denominative from 6203, to break the neck; hence (figuratively) to destroy
KJV usage: that is beheaded, break down, break (cut off, strike off) neck.
Pronounce: aw-raf'
Origin: a primitive root (identical with 6201 through the idea of sloping)
the heifer’s
`eglah (Hebrew #5697)
a (female) calf, especially one nearly grown (i.e. a heifer)
KJV usage: calf, cow, heifer.
Pronounce: eg-law'
Origin: feminine of 5695
neck
`araph (Hebrew #6202)
properly, to bend downward; but used only as a denominative from 6203, to break the neck; hence (figuratively) to destroy
KJV usage: that is beheaded, break down, break (cut off, strike off) neck.
Pronounce: aw-raf'
Origin: a primitive root (identical with 6201 through the idea of sloping)
there in the valley
nachal (Hebrew #5158)
or nachalah (Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28) {nakh-al-aw'}; from 5157 in its original sense; a stream, especially a winter torrent; (by implication) a (narrow) valley (in which a brook runs); also a shaft (of a mine)
KJV usage: brook, flood, river, stream, valley.
Pronounce: nakh'-al
Origin: or (feminine) nachlah (Psalm 124:4) {nakh'-law}
:

More on:

+

Cross References

+

Ministry on This Verse

+
a rough valley.As the word {nachal} signifies both a torrent, and the valley or glen through which it flows, {nachal aithan} may be rendered a rapid torrent.
Many torrents in Judea are dry during a great part of the year; when not only their banks but their beds may be ploughed, and yield a crop.
Hence there is no impropriety in specifying that such a place should be one that "is neither cared nor sown;" while the circumstance that the elders were to wash their hands over the heifer, whose head had been struck off into the stream, confirms this interpretation.
The spot of ground where this sacrifice was made must be uncultivated, because it was considered as a sacrifice for the atonement of murder, and, consequently, would pollute the land.shall strike.
 “A rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown” (a figure of this world). (Deuteronomy 21 by W. Kelly)

J. N. Darby Translation

+
4
and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto an ever-flowing watercoursea, which is not tilled, nor is it sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the watercoursea;

JND Translation Notes

+
a
Or "valley," ch. 2.13.