Deuteronomy 21 · Verse 23

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.
Deuteronomy 21:23, King James Version

Deuteronomy 21:23 in other translations

BSByou must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
WEBhis body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Don’t defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
ASVhis body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thou defile not thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
YLThis corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly bury him in that day--for a thing lightly esteemed of God is the hanged one--and thou dost not defile thy ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee--an inheritance.
DARBYhis 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 a curse of God); and thou shalt not defile thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
BBEDo not let his body be on the tree all night, but put it to rest in the earth the same day; for the man who undergoes hanging is cursed by God; so do not make unclean the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.
WebsterHis 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 may not be defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

What does Deuteronomy 21:23 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.

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 21:22-23 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree - Its exposure for the space of one day was judged sufficient. The law which required this answered all the ends of public justice, exposed the shame and infamy of the conduct, but did not put to torture the feelings of humanity by requiring a perpetual exhibition of a human being, a slow prey to the most loathsome process of putrefaction. Did ever the spiking of the heads of state criminals prevent high treason? or the gibbeting of a thief or a murderer, prevent either murder or robbery? These questions may be safely answered in the negative; and the remains of the ancient barbarism which requires these disgusting and abominable exhibitions, and which are deplored by every feeling heart, should be banished with all possible speed. In the case given in the text, God considers the land as defiled while the body of the executed criminal lay exposed, hence it was enjoined, Thou shalt in any wise bury him that day. For he that is hanged is accursed of God - That is, he has forfeited his life to the law; for it is written, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them; and on his body, in the execution of the sentence of the law, the curse was considered as alighting; hence the necessity of removing the accursed thing out of sight. How excellent are all these laws! How wondrously well calculated to repress crimes by showing the enormity of sin! It is worthy of remark that in the infliction of punishment prescribed by the Mosaic law, we ever find that Mercy walks hand in hand with Judgment.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · 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…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 21:22-23 →

Deuteronomy 21:23 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.

לֹא\־lo'-notH3808
תָלִ֨יןta.Linit will remain overnightH3885
נִבְלָת֜וֹniv.la.Tocorpse hisH5038
עַל\־'al-onH5921
הָעֵ֗ץha.'Etzthe treeH6086
כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
קָב֤וֹרka.Vorcertainly <to bury>H6912
תִּקְבְּרֶ֙נּוּ֙tik.be.Re.nuyou will bury himH6912
בַּיּ֣וֹםbai.Yomon the dayH3117
הַה֔וּאha.Hu'<the> thatH1931
כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
קִלְלַ֥תki.Lat[is] a curse ofH7045
אֱלֹהִ֖ים'E.lo.HimGodH430
תָּל֑וּיta.Lui[one who] is hangedH8518
וְלֹ֤אve.Lo'and notH3808
תְטַמֵּא֙te.ta.Me'you will make uncleanH2930
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
אַדְמָ֣תְךָ֔'ad.Ma.te.khaland yourH127
אֲשֶׁר֙'a.SherwhichH834
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ'e.lo.Hei.khaGod yourH430
נֹתֵ֥ןno.Ten[is] about to giveH5414
לְךָ֖le.Khato <the> you
נַחֲלָֽה\׃\ \סna.cha.Lahan inheritanceH5159

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

Cross references for Deuteronomy 21:23

  • Galatians 3:13

    Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

  • John 19:31

    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.

  • 2 Corinthians 5:21

    For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

  • Leviticus 18:25

    And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

  • Romans 9:3

    For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

  • Numbers 25:4

    And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads 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.

  • Joshua 8:29

    And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.

  • Joshua 10:26-27

    And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.

  • Numbers 35:33-34

    So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.

  • Joshua 7:12

    Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

  • 1 Corinthians 16:22

    If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
he that is hanged is accursed of God. Heb. the curse of God.That is, it is the highest degree of reproach that can attach to a man, and proclaims him under the curse of God as much as any external punishment can. They that see him thus hanging between heaven and earth, will conclude him abandoned of both, and unworthy of either. Bp. Patrick observes, that this passage is applied to the death of Christ; not only because he bare our sins and was exposed to shame, as these malefactors were that were accursed of God, but because he was in the evening taken down from the cursed tree and buried, (and that by the particular care of the Jews, with an eye to this law, Joh 19:31,) in token, that now the guilt being removed, the law was satisfied, as it was when the malefactors had hanged till sun-set: it demanded no more. Then he, and those that are his, ceased to be a curse. And as the land of Israel was pure and clean when the body was buried, so the church is washed and cleansed by the complete satisfaction which Christ thus made.
7:26; Nu 25:4; Jos 7:12; 2Sa 21:6; Ro 9:3; Ga 3:13; 1Co 16:22
2Co 5:21
thy land.
Le 18:25; Nu 35:33,34

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

Context

  • 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 21:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No estará su cuerpo por la noche en el madero, mas sin falta lo enterrarás el mismo día, porque maldición de Dios es el colgado: y no contaminarás tu tierra, que Jehová tu Dios te da por heredad.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		son cadavre ne passera pas la nuit sur le bois; mais tu l’enterreras sans faute le jour même, car celui qui est pendu est malédiction de Dieu; et tu ne rendras pas impure la terre que l’ Éternel, ton Dieu, te donne en héritage.
German
Elberfelder 1871		so soll sein Leichnam nicht über Nacht an dem Holze bleiben, sondern du sollst ihn jedenfalls an demselben Tage begraben; denn ein Fluch Gottes ist ein Gehängter; und du sollst dein Land nicht verunreinigen, das Jehova, dein Gott, dir als Erbteil gibt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		non permanebit cadaver ejus in ligno, sed in eadem die sepelietur: quia maledictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno: et nequaquam contaminabis terram tuam, quam Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi in possessionem.