deuteronomy 17:8-19:10, justice tempered with mercy

Read Deuteronomy 17:8-19:10 at Bible Gateway.

(Please review the teaching tools of scripture, especially the Hebrew paragraph divisions and chiastic structures. The paragraphs marked by an “s” at their close are weak paragraphs, which indicate a change of facet but not a change of theme or topic. The paragraphs marked by a “p” at their close are strong paragraphs, which indicate the completion of a theme or topic. The paragraph divisions reveal the chiastic structures: narratives which zero in on the main point of the narrative at its center, like a bull’s eye at the center of a target. The main point is revealed, because the narrative elements before the main point (or central axis) are repeated after the central axis, in reverse order, while the central axis itself is not repeated.)

We are studying what Scripture is teaching ‘Do not commit murder means,’ by studying its explanation contained in Deu 19:1-21:9. Something that is interesting though, is that the strong paragraph ending in Deu 19:10, squarely in the middle of the explanation of Do not commit murder, is the conclusion of a strong theme begun in Deu 17:8:

Deu 17:8-13 {s} Authority of the priest and judge
Deu 17:14-20 {s} Authority of the king
Deu 18:1-2 {s} Authority of the Levites
Deu 18:3-5 {s} What is due the Levites
Deu 18:6-8 {s} Equal shares for Levites
Deu 18:9-22 {s} Authority of the prophet
Deu 19:1-10 {p} Three cities of refuge

According to the Creator of heaven and earth, all of these paragraphs are together teaching a single overarching strong theme. What is it?

Deu 17:8-18:22 is explaining delegated national authorities, whose job it was, we saw, to bear the sword to execute wrath on those who practice evil (Rom 13:4). That is why authority has been given to them in the first place. That the paragraph does not end there, but includes the instruction concerning the cities of refuge for manslaughterers, tells me that authority shall temper the execution of justice with mercy. Justice can become unjust, in other words, when mercy is removed from the equation.

Continued: deuteronomy 19:1-10, cities of refuge