What Does Deuteronomy 21:21 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew for “put away” carries the force of consuming or clearing out, and here that removal is a public execution meant to reach all Israel.
THE MEANING
Here, the city’s men stone a person to death, and the verse names that killing as the removal of evil from their midst. Its reach extends beyond the city: all Israel hears and fears.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse overturns the belief that judgment concerns only the person punished: it makes the whole people’s hearing and fear part of its stated effect.
THE ROOT
וּבִעַרְתָּ
uvi'arta
GROWS FROM
בער
b-ʿ-r
Burn, consume; in this form, clear out or remove.
“put away” in this verse is uvi'arta. The phrase carries the force of consuming or clearing away. In this verse, the removal is concrete and severe: a person is stoned to death, and that act is presented as removing evil from the community.
ALSO GROWS
ba'ar: Burn or be consumed.
בָּעַר
This branch reveals the force carried by “put away”: the language can evoke something being consumed, not merely overlooked.
bi'er: Clear out or remove.
בִּעֵר
This related form names the clearing away expressed in the verse’s phrase “put evil away.”
יִשְׁמְעוּ
yishme'u
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen.
“hear” in this verse is yishme'u. This root also forms a word for a report or news, linking hearing with what is communicated. The punishment’s reach extends through what all Israel hears of it.
ALSO GROWS
shama: Hear or listen.
שָׁמַע
It is the same root as “shall hear,” the response shared by all Israel.
shemu'ah: A report or news.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows how an event can travel beyond its witnesses as something heard and repeated.
וְיָרֵאוּ
veyare'u
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
Fear or stand in awe.
Fear is named alongside hearing as the community’s response to the public judgment. The verse makes that response part of the judgment’s reach beyond the person who dies.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Fear or awe.
יִרְאָה
This noun shares the root of “shall fear” and names the response the verse attributes to all Israel.
mora: Dread or fear.
מוֹרָא
This related word carries the weight of fear produced by a severe and visible consequence.
THE PATTERN
In these texts, public judgment becomes a warning whose reach extends through everyone who hears of it.
And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.THE THREAD
And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.This verse repeats the roots for “hear” (שמע, shama) and “fear” (ירא, yare), showing the same response among those who remain. Their hearing and fear are tied directly to the stated aim that the evil not be repeated.
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