Deuteronomy 21 · Verse 22

Deuteronomy 21:22

And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
Deuteronomy 21:22, King James Version

Deuteronomy 21:22 in other translations

BSBIf a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,
WEBIf a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
ASVAnd if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree;
YLT‘And when there is in a man a sin--a cause of death, and he hath been put to death, and thou hast hanged him on a tree,
DARBYAnd if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou have hanged him on a tree,
BBEIf a man does a crime for which the punishment is death, and he is put to death by hanging him on a tree;
WebsterAnd if a man shall have committed a sin worthy of death, and he must be put to death, and thou shalt hang him on a tree:

What does Deuteronomy 21:22 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 21:22-23
22-23. if a man have committed a sin ... and thou hang him on a tree--Hanging was not a Hebrew form of execution (gibbeting is meant), but the body was not to be left to rot or be a prey to ravenous birds; it was to be buried "that day," either because the stench in a hot climate would corrupt the air, or the spectacle of an exposed corpse bring ceremonial defilement on the land.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 21:22-23
By the law of Moses, the touch of a dead body was defiling, therefore dead bodies must not be left hanging, as that would defile the land. There is one reason here which has reference to Christ; "He that is hanged is accursed of God;" that is, it is the highest degree of disgrace and reproach. Those who see a man thus hanging between heaven and earth, will conclude him abandoned of both, and unworthy of either. Moses, by the Spirit, uses this phrase of being accursed of God, when he means no more than being treated most disgracefully, that it might afterward be applied to the death of Christ, and might show that in it he underwent the curse of the law for us; which proves his love, and encourages to faith in him.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Deuteronomy 21:22 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְכִֽי\־ve.khi-and ifH3588
יִהְיֶ֣הyih.Yehit will beH1961
בְאִ֗ישׁve.'Ishin anyoneH376
חֵ֛טְאchet'a sin ofH2399
מִשְׁפַּט\־mish.pat-a sentence ofH4941
מָ֖וֶתMa.vetdeathH4194
וְהוּמָ֑תve.hu.Matand he will be put to deathH4191
וְתָלִ֥יתָve.ta.Li.taand you will hangH8518
אֹת֖וֹ'o.To<obj.> himH853
עַל\־'al-onH5921
עֵֽץ\׃'Etza treeH6086

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 21:22

  • John 19:31-38

    The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. …

  • Acts 26:31

    And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.

  • Luke 23:33

    And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

  • Deuteronomy 22:26

    But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:

  • Matthew 26:66

    What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

  • Acts 23:29

    Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.

  • 2 Samuel 4:12

    And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish–bosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

  • Joshua 10:26

    And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.

  • Mark 14:64

    Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

  • 2 Samuel 21:6

    Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.

  • Acts 25:11

    For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Cesar.

  • 2 Samuel 21:9

    And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
worthy of death. Heb. of the judgment of death.The Hebrews understand this not of putting to death by hanging, but of hanging a man up after he was stoned to death; which was done more ignominiously of some heinous malefactors. We have the examples of Rechab and Baanah, who, for murdering Ish-bosheth, were slain by David's commandment, their hand and feet cut off, and then hanged up.
2Sa 4:12
See also
Jos 8:29; 10:26So in Nu 25:4, we read, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads (chief men) of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel." Among the Romans, in after ages, they hanged, or rather fastened to the tree ALIVE; and such was the cruel death of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
19:6; 22:26; 1Sa 26:16; Mt 26:66; Ac 23:29; 25:11,25; 26:31
thou hang.
2Sa 21:6,9; Lu 23:33; Joh 19:31-38

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 21:21

    And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

  • Deuteronomy 21:22

    And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:

  • Deuteronomy 21:23

    His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Read all of Deuteronomy 21

Deuteronomy 21:22 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Cuando en alguno hubiere pecado de sentencia de muerte, por el que haya de morir, y le habrás colgado en un madero,
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et si un homme a commis un péché digne de mort, et qu’il ait été mis à mort, et que tu l’aies pendu à un bois,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und wenn an einem Manne eine todeswürdige Sünde ist, und er wird getötet, und du hängst ihn an ein Holz,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quando peccaverit homo quod morte plectendum est, et adjudicatus morti appensus fuerit in patibulo: