Ulangan 17:8-9

Appeal to a Higher Court

17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, ¹  legal claim, ²  or assault ³  – matters of controversy in your villages ⁴  – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. ⁵  17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict.

Ulangan 19:17

19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges ⁶  who will be in office in those days.

Ulangan 21:5

21:5 Then the Levitical priests ⁷  will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, ⁸  and to decide ⁹  every judicial verdict ¹⁰ )

[17:8]  ¹ tn Heb “between blood and blood.”

[17:8]  ² tn Heb “between claim and claim.”

[17:8]  ³ tn Heb “between blow and blow.”

[17:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:8]  ⁵ tc Several Greek recensions add “to place his name there,” thus completing the usual formula to describe the central sanctuary (cf. Deut 12:5, 11, 14, 18; 16:6). However, the context suggests that the local Levitical towns, and not the central sanctuary, are in mind.

[19:17]  ⁶ tn The appositional construction (“before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges”) indicates that these human agents represented the Lord himself, that is, they stood in his place (cf. Deut 16:18-20; 17:8-9).

[21:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “the priests, the sons of Levi.”

[21:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the name of the Lord.” See note on Deut 10:8. The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[21:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “by their mouth.”

[21:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “every controversy and every blow.”