Deuteronomy 21:8

Summary

Deuteronomy 21:8 records a formulaic petition asking Yehovah to atone for the people of Israel, whom he has redeemed, and to keep them free from guilt for innocent bloodshed. The verse concludes by stating that this atonement will indeed occur.

Key words

• kaPer ("make atonement", H3722A) — piel imperative, a direct command form addressed to Yehovah, opening the verse as a plea for ritual atonement.
• pediTa ("you ransomed", H6299) — qal perfect, referring to a completed past action of redemption performed by Yehovah for Israel.
• tiTten ("you put/allow", H5414H) — qal jussive with the negation 'al ("may not", H0408), forming a prohibition-wish: "may you not allow."
• dam naKi ("innocent blood", H1818 + H5355A) — noun plus adjective, the object of concern, describing blood that carries no guilt.
• nikkaPer ("it will be atoned for", H3722A) — same root as kaPer but in the nithpael (passive-reflexive) sequential perfect, marking the outcome that follows the preceding imperative and jussive.

What the text says

The verse is built in three grammatical movements using the same root k-p-r (H3722A) at the beginning and near the end, framing the whole statement as a request that is then confirmed as accomplished. It opens with the piel imperative kaPer, a command form directed at Yehovah, followed by le'ammekha Yisra'el ("for your people Israel"), specifying the object of the atonement. The relative clause 'asher paDita ("which you ransomed") uses the qal perfect to recall Yehovah's prior redemptive act, with the vocative Yehovah (H3068G) placed after the relative clause rather than at the sentence's start — an interruption typical of direct address embedded mid-sentence.

The second clause pivots to a negative jussive, ve'al-tiTten dam naki beqerev 'ammekha Yisra'el ("and may you not put innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel"), using tiTten (from natan, H5414H) in jussive form to express a wish rather than a flat prohibition. The final clause, introduced by the narrative vav (H9001), shifts to nikkaPer lahem hadDam — a nithpael sequential perfect stating that "the blood will be atoned for," using the passive form of the same root that opened the verse. This grammatical return to k-p-r creates a frame: the imperative request is answered by the passive verb, marking the ritual efficacy as complete within the verse's own structure, without any additional confirming statement needed.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders kaPer ("make atonement", H3722A) with ἵλεως γενοῦ ("become propitious/merciful"), and the Vulgate similarly uses propitius esto ("be propitious"), both shifting from the Hebrew's technical atonement-verb to a broader plea for divine favor. The Vulgate's ne reputes ("do not reckon/impute") for the jussive clause also frames the negative wish as a matter of legal reckoning rather than the Hebrew's more general "do not put/allow."