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Selected Verse: Deuteronomy 21:4 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
De 21:4	King James	And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Eared - i. e., plowed; compare Gen 45:6 note and references. The word is derived from the Latin, and is in frequent use by English writers of the fifteenth and two following centuries. Strike off the heifer's neck - Rather, "break its neck" (compare Exo 13:13). The mode of killing the victim distinguishes this lustration from the sin-offering, in which there would be of course shedding and sprinkling of the blood.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

Eared - i. e., plowed; compare Gen 45:6 note and references. The word is derived from the Latin, and is in frequent use by English writers of the fifteenth and two following centuries.

Strike off the heifer's neck - Rather, "break its neck" (compare Exo 13:13). The mode of killing the victim distinguishes this lustration from the sin-offering, in which there would be of course shedding and sprinkling of the blood.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
A rough valley - That such a desert and horrid place might beget an horror of murder and of the murderer. Strike off the neck - To shew what they would and should have done to the murderer if they had found him.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

A rough valley - That such a desert and horrid place might beget an horror of murder and of the murderer. Strike off the neck - To shew what they would and should have done to the murderer if they had found him.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley - נחל איתן nachal eythan might be translated a rapid stream, probably passing through a piece of uncultivated ground where the elders of the city were to strike off the head of the heifer, and to wash their hands over her in token of their innocence. The spot of ground on which this sacrifice was made must be uncultivated, because it was considered to be a sacrifice to make atonement for the murder, and consequently would pollute the land. This regulation was calculated to keep murder in abhorrence, and to make the magistrates alert in their office, that delinquents might be discovered and punished, and thus public expense saved.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

Shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley - נחל איתן nachal eythan might be translated a rapid stream, probably passing through a piece of uncultivated ground where the elders of the city were to strike off the head of the heifer, and to wash their hands over her in token of their innocence. The spot of ground on which this sacrifice was made must be uncultivated, because it was considered to be a sacrifice to make atonement for the murder, and consequently would pollute the land. This regulation was calculated to keep murder in abhorrence, and to make the magistrates alert in their office, that delinquents might be discovered and punished, and thus public expense saved.

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