Shoftim 21:01 · unit 1

TT #330 · Parashas Shoftim · Seventh Aliyah · Passuk 21:01

The Complete Passuk

כִּֽי־יִמָּצֵ֣א חָלָ֗ל בָּאֲדָמָה֙ אֲשֶׁר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ נֹתֵ֤ן לְךָ֙ לְרִשְׁתָּ֔הּ נֹפֵ֖ל בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה לֹ֥א נוֹדַ֖ע מִ֥י הִכָּֽהוּ׃

If a slain person is found in the land that the Eternal your God is giving you to possess, lying in the field, and it is not known who struck him.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sotah 44b / Sifrei.

TT lemma: כִּי יִמָּצֵא חָלָל.

Sefaria — Sotah 44b / Sifrei

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
כִּי יִמָּצֵא חָלָל – וְלֹא חָנוּק, וְלֹא מְפֹרָק.

English: ‘If a slain person is found’ – and not one who was strangled, and not one who was dismembered.

On the daf / in context: The classic definition of the chalal that triggers the eglah arufah.

Type of Learning

Derash defining the corpse that requires the rite (Bavli / Sifrei) — the verse implies a body found slain by the sword or similar, not every death.

What Is Learned

The eglah arufah is performed only when a slain body is found in the open; certain other forms of death do not trigger the rite.