What Does Deuteronomy 17:6 Mean?
Upon the mouth of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall the one who is to die be put to death; but upon the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.THE KEY
A death sentence cannot rest on one mouth: the verse makes corroborated testimony part of the threshold for taking a life.
THE MEANING
This verse sets a boundary around judgment: one person’s testimony cannot establish that another is worthy of death. A human life is not made forfeit by a single voice; the claim must be affirmed by more than one witness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that one accusation, however forcefully spoken, is enough to establish guilt deserving death.
THE ROOT
עֵדִים
ʿēdîm
GROWS FROM
ע־ו־ד
ʿ-w-d
To bear witness or affirm; related forms also carry the sense of repeating or returning.
“witnesses” in this verse is ʿēdîm. The Hebrew word for witness is linked to a root family of attesting and affirming. The verse’s insistence on more than one witness means a death claim must be affirmed by another voice before it can stand.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēd: A person who testifies or attests.
עֵד
The singular form makes clear that one witness’s attestation alone does not meet the threshold in this verse.
hēʿîd: To give testimony or affirm a claim.
הֵעִיד
This verb names the act behind the noun: a witness affirms what is claimed, and here that affirmation must come from more than one voice.
THE PATTERN
A grave judgment or disputed matter requires corroborated testimony; one voice alone cannot make the claim stand.
Whoever strikes a living soul, the crusher shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses; but one witness shall not answer against any person to make him die.One witness shall not rise up against a man for any crookedness, or for any falling short, in it he misses the mark; upon the mouth of two witnesses, or upon the mouth of three witnesses, the word shall stand.But if he does not hear you, take along with you one or two more, so that upon the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.THE THREAD
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any crookedness, or for any falling short, in it he misses the mark; upon the mouth of two witnesses, or upon the mouth of three witnesses, the word shall stand.The same Hebrew word עֵד (ʿēd, witness) appears there, and that verse makes explicit what this one enacts: a matter is established by two or three witnesses. It opens the principle beyond a death sentence to accusations more broadly, tying the standing of a claim to more than one voice.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us