The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall eliminate the evil from your midst.
Parallel translations
- WEB The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
- KJV The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
- BSB The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- NKJV The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
- NLT The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people may join in. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The witnesses were to cast the first stones, then all the people, removing the evil from among them. Accusers bore personal responsibility, and the community shared in purging sin.
Overview
By striking first, the witnesses staked their own integrity on the truth of their testimony, deterring false accusation. The community's participation expressed corporate rejection of evil. Paul echoes the refrain 'purge the evil from among you' when calling the church to deal seriously with unrepentant sin in its midst.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Deut 13:9but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.
- 1 Cor 5:13But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”
- Deut 13:5That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
- Deut 17:12The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. You shall put away the evil from Israel.
- Acts 7:58–59They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
- Deut 24:7If a man is found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deals with him as a slave, or sells him; then that thief shall die. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
- Judg 20:13Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel.” But Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers the children of Israel.
- Deut 19:19then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 17:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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