Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 21:5
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be [tried]:
5. the priests the sons of Levi shall come near ] The same vb as of the priest in Deu 20:2, R.V. approach. The appearance of the priests is remarkable, for they have nothing else to do in the ceremony. They have been introduced, then, either by D or, since they are not designated by D’s usual title for them ( the priests the Levites), by an editor who, under the later priestly conceptions, cannot imagine such a ceremony without them. The rest of the v. reads as though the insertor gave it as his reason for bringing them in. For the formulas of which it consists see on Deu 10:8, Deu 17:8; Deu 17:12, Deu 18:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The priests shall come near, both to direct them in all the circumstances of action and to see that the law was observed, and to bless them in Gods name, by praying for them, and absolving or pronouncing them guiltless in this matter.
Every controversy; not absolutely all manner of controversies that could possibly arise, as if their word were to determine whether there were a God or providence or no, whether God should be worshipped, and his commands observed, or no, whether Moses was a true prophet or an impostor, whether apostate and idolatrous Israelites should be punished or no, which is apparently absurd and ridiculous; but every such controversy as might arise about the matter here spoken of; nothing being more usual than to understand universal expressions in a limited sense; and indeed this is limited and explained by the following words,
and every stroke, the particle and being put expositively, of which instances have been formerly given, i.e. every controversy which shall arise about any stroke, whether such a mortal stroke as is here spoken of, a murder, which may well be called a stroke, as to smite is oft used for to kill, as Gen 4:15; Lev 24:17, &c., or any other stroke or wound given by one man to another.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near,…. Who were clearly of the tribe of Levi, as Aben Ezra notes; about whom there could be no dispute; for it seems there sometimes were persons in that office, of whom there was some doubt at least whether they were of that tribe; these seem to be such that belonged to the court of judicature at Jerusalem; see De 17:9, who were to be present at this solemnity, to direct in the performance of it, and to judge and determine in any matter of difficulty that might arise:
for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him; in the service of the sanctuary, by offering sacrifices, c.
and to bless in the name of the Lord the people; see Nu 6:23
and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried; every controversy between man and man respecting civil things, and every stroke or blow which one man may give another; and whatsoever came before them was tried by them, according to the respective laws given concerning the things in question, and were not determined by them in an arbitrary way, according to their own will and pleasure; see
De 17:8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. And the priests shall come near The priests were not to take part in the matter, but were present to see that all things were done in accordance with law.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Was not this washing over the head of the beast; in allusion to the same thing as the high priest on the day of atonement? And in the address to GOD, in which the distinguishing feature of character, as the Redeemer of his people, is expressly kept in view; was it not, as all the expressions of the law, intimating that without shedding of blood there was no remission? And if so, doth not the Reader behold in all this JESUS doing away all our murderous sins, by which we have destroyed ourselves, (though from our blindness like the one slain in the land, and it be not known by whom), we long remain unconscious of it. See Lev 16:29 and with the apostle’s commentary upon it, Heb 9:7-12 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 21:5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be [tried]:
Ver. 5. And by their word, ] i.e., According to that exposition that they shall give of God’s Word, and not by any absolute or arbitrary power of their own.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the priests the sons of Levi. See note on Deu 17:9.
word. Hebrew mouth. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for what is uttered by it.
stroke = punishment. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), App-6. Compare Deu 17:8.
tried. Better to supply “settled”, or “decided”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
for them: Deu 10:8, Deu 18:5, Num 6:22-27, 1Ch 23:13
by their word: Deu 17:8-12, Mal 2:7
word: Heb. mouth
Reciprocal: Lev 9:22 – his hand Num 3:16 – word Num 6:23 – General Deu 19:17 – General 2Ch 19:8 – the judgment Eze 42:13 – approach
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 21:5-6. By their word shall every controversy be tried That is, every one of this kind, every one that shall arise about any stroke, whether such a mortal stroke as is here spoken of, or any other, or wound given by one man to another. In these matters they shall give sentence, being consulted by the elders or judges of the cities, Deu 17:9-12. The elders shall wash their hands Protesting their innocence, says a learned Jewish writer, (Chazkuni,) in these words: As our hands are now clean, so are we innocent of the blood which has been shed. See an allusion to this, Psa 26:6; Mat 27:24.