Deuteronomy 21:23

you must not allow his corpse to remain there all night. You must bury it on the day that he died, because God has cursed anyone whose corpse is allowed to remain on a post. You must bury the corpse that day, in order that you do not defile the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you.”

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

22“If someone is executed for having committed a crime for which he deserves to die, and you hang his corpse on a post,

Read all of Deuteronomy 21

Cross References

Numbers 25:4Yahweh said this to Moses/me: “Seize all the leaders of those men who are doing this and execute them while I am watching. Do that in the daytime. After you do that, I will no longer be angry with the Israeli people.”

Numbers 35:34I am Yahweh, and I live among you Israelis, so do not spoil/pollute the land by allowing people to murder others without being punished.”

Deuteronomy 7:26You must not bring any of those disgusting idols into your houses, because if you do that, God will curse you like he curses them. You must hate and despise [DOU] those idols, because they are things that Yahweh has cursed.”

Joshua 7:12That is why you Israelis have been unable to be strong when you went to attack your enemies. That is why you have run away from them. And now you yourselves may be destroyed. If you do not do as I commanded you and destroy everything that you captured in Jericho I will not help you any more!”

Joshua 10:26Then Joshua killed each of the five kings with his sword, and told his soldiers to hang the bodies of the five kings on trees. So they did that, and they left the bodies hanging on the trees until sunset.

2 Samuel 21:6Hand over to us seven of Saul’s descendants. We will hang them where Yahweh is worshiped in Gibeon, our town, the town where Saul, whom Yahweh previously chose to be king, lived.” The king replied, “Okay, I will hand them over to you.”

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 21:19-23

Punishment of a Rebellious Son; Burial of Malefactors. ( b. c. 1451.) 18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Deuteronomy 21:23