Deuteronomy 21 quiz

20 Hard Deuteronomy 21 Quiz Questions and Answers

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Deuteronomy 21 cuts across five distinct legal regimes in a single chapter: a justice problem, a marriage problem, an inheritance problem, a parental problem, and a death problem. The Deuteronomy 21 quiz below tests knowledge of how each regime is handled.

Run it alongside the Deuteronomy 20 quiz on the laws of warfare that immediately precede this chapter, and the entire Bible quiz once you’ve worked through Deuteronomy as a whole.

Deuteronomy 21 Quiz Questions and Answers

Question 1: According to the heifer ritual for an unsolved murder, where were the elders of the nearest city to bring the heifer?
  • A. Off to the deep valley at the foot of the mountain ridge
  • B. Up to the high place where the priests of the LORD stood
  • C. Out to a wilderness untouched by the foot of any ox
  • D. Down to a rough valley which was neither eared nor sown
  • E. Forth to the city gate where the elders sat to judge
View Answer

Answer 1: D. The destination is specifically a rough valley, “which is neither eared nor sown.” The valley itself must be unworked land where the heifer’s neck is struck off. The land’s untouched state mirrors the legal innocence the ritual is meant to declare.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:4. “And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley.”

Question 2: After the elders heard the parents’ charge against the rebellious son, what was their commanded response?
  • A. To deliver him to the priest for a full hearing of his case
  • B. All the men of his city were to stone him with stones that he die
  • C. To bind him in cords until his father had paid full atonement
  • D. To send him forth into the wilderness for thirty days alone
  • E. The captains of the host were to discharge him from the camp
View Answer

Answer 2: B. The penalty is execution by stoning, carried out by all the men of the city. The phrase “put evil away from among you” closes the verse, followed by the same hear-and-fear principle that frames many capital cases in Deuteronomy.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:21. “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.”

Question 3: When a man brought a captive woman home to take her as wife, what two things was she required to do?
  • A. Shave her head and pare her nails before her husband
  • B. Wash her hands and put off the raiment of her people
  • C. Eat the bread of her husband and bow before his father
  • D. Mourn her parents and break the vessels of her former house
  • E. Burn the garments of her captivity and stand before the priest
View Answer

Answer 3: A. The two specific actions are shaving the head and paring the nails. These come before the month of mourning and before consummation. Both are signs of mourning and transition rather than humiliation.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:12. “Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails.”

Question 4: Why was a man hanged on a tree commanded not to remain there overnight?
  • A. Lest the wild beasts of the field tear his flesh in the night
  • B. Lest the people gather to mourn him at the rising of the sun
  • C. Lest he that is hanged is accursed of God and the land be defiled
  • D. Lest the city be remembered by his shame in the days to come
  • E. Lest the priests be defiled by his shadow at the morning watch
View Answer

Answer 4: C. The reasoning is theological. The hanged man is under God’s curse, and prolonged display defiles the land itself. Paul cites this exact verse in Galatians 3:13 to explain Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:23. “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”

Question 5: What inheritance did the firstborn son of the hated wife receive when his father divided his goods?
  • A. The first choice of his father’s flocks and herds in the land
  • B. The whole inheritance unless he sold it to his younger brother
  • C. An equal portion with the sons of the beloved wife forever
  • D. A third part as the right of his mother’s covenant with the father
  • E. A double portion of all that his father had at the time of dividing
View Answer

Answer 5: E. The firstborn receives a double portion. The verse calls him “the beginning of his strength,” and “the right of the firstborn is his.” The double portion is fixed by law against any partiality from the father.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:17. “But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.”

Question 6: After washing their hands over the slain heifer, the elders of the nearest city made a specific declaration. Which option names it correctly?
  • A. Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it
  • B. Our city is innocent, neither have our gates opened to the slayer
  • C. Our judges have not pronounced, neither have our priests defiled it
  • D. Our youth have not gone forth, neither have our men done evil
  • E. Our LORD is faithful, neither hath any man transgressed his word
View Answer

Answer 6: A. The exact two-clause declaration: hands have not shed it, eyes have not seen it. The combination is meant to absolve both the city’s act and the city’s knowledge.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:7. “And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.”

Question 7: How long was the captive bride to bewail her father and her mother before her husband went in unto her?
  • A. Three full month within the husband’s house
  • B. Seven days of fasting before the elders of the city
  • C. Fourteen days according to the count of the moon
  • D. Forty days of mourning by the gate of his city
  • E. A full month within the husband’s house
View Answer

Answer 7: E. A full month. The mourning period was strict and unhurried, designed to give the woman time to grieve her former life before becoming wife to her captor.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:13. “And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.”

Question 8: How does verse 18 describe the son whose parents brought him to the elders?
  • A. A wicked son who had departed from the law of his father
  • B. A foolish son who shamed the elders of his city’s gates
  • C. A stubborn and rebellious son who would not obey his parents
  • D. A grievous son who walked in the wisdom of the heathen kings
  • E. A scorning son who mocked the words of the prophets in his land
View Answer

Answer 8: C. The exact language is “stubborn and rebellious,” paired with the failure to obey both the father’s voice and the mother’s voice even after chastening. The legal framework requires both parents to be heard.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:18. “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them.”

Question 9: Under what circumstance was a man’s body hanged upon a tree?
  • A. When he had broken the LORD’s command in the sight of all
  • B. When he had committed a sin worthy of death and was put to death
  • C. When the elders of his city had pronounced him an evil man
  • D. When the king of Israel had commanded his life to be taken
  • E. When his guilt had been declared by the priests of the camp
View Answer

Answer 9: B. The hanging is post-execution, not the means of death. The sequence is sin, death sentence, execution, then public hanging as a sign before burial that same day.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:22. “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree.”

Question 10: The heifer brought by the elders of the nearest city had two specific qualifications. Which set names them correctly?
  • A. A heifer of the third year and of a single colour throughout
  • B. A heifer that had not borne and that came of the firstborn herd
  • C. A heifer red of skin and unblemished from the day of her birth
  • D. A heifer that had not been wrought with and that had not drawn in the yoke
  • E. A heifer fed of pure grass and sealed with a mark by the priest
View Answer

Answer 10: D. The two specifications are negative: never worked, never yoked. The heifer must have no history of human use, mirroring the legal innocence the ritual is meant to declare.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:3. “And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke.”

Question 11: How does verse 15 describe the situation that triggers the law of the firstborn’s double portion?
  • A. A man having one wife and one concubine, both bearing him sons in the land
  • B. A man having two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and both bearing him sons
  • C. A man taking a captive wife and a free wife, the captive bearing him first
  • D. A man whose firstborn son rebelled and whose younger son walked in righteousness
  • E. A man whose first wife died and whose second wife bore him a son in old age
View Answer

Answer 11: B. The exact framing: two wives, one beloved, one hated, both bearing children. The law preempts the father’s natural inclination to favour the beloved’s son over the hated’s son when birthright is at stake.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:15. “If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated.”

Question 12: Who specifically was to come near in the heifer ritual to bear the role of judgment?
  • A. The captains of the host as appointed by the elders’ choice
  • B. The judges of the city sitting in the gate of the murdered man
  • C. The priests, the sons of Levi, whom the LORD the God hath chosen
  • D. The fathers of the families dwelling in the cities of refuge
  • E. The witnesses of the city standing two or three for the matter
View Answer

Answer 12: C. The priests, the sons of Levi, are the LORD’s chosen ministers. The verse adds that “by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried,” which includes the bloodguilt question raised by an unsolved murder.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:5. “And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried.”

Question 13: If a man had no delight in the captive woman after taking her to wife, what was he required to do?
  • A. To return her to the camp of her people in the conquered land
  • B. To send her to the priest’s house to be servant unto the priest
  • C. To pay her father a bride-price out of the spoil of the war
  • D. To let her go whither she would, and not sell her or make merchandise of her
  • E. To give her into the hand of his brother to be his wife instead
View Answer

Answer 13: D. Two prohibitions plus one positive command: let her go free, do not sell, do not treat as merchandise. The reason given is that “thou hast humbled her.”
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:14. “And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.”

Question 14: After the elders’ declaration over the heifer, what specific prayer were they to make?
  • A. Forgive thy people, that we be not cut off from thy presence
  • B. Receive our offering, O LORD, and look not upon our iniquity
  • C. Hear thy servants, and let not the blood return upon our heads
  • D. Defend thy city, O Holy One, and protect us in the day of trouble
  • E. Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed
View Answer

Answer 14: E. The exact prayer: be merciful unto thy people Israel, with the redemption clause attached. The prayer pleads that innocent blood not be laid to Israel’s charge, and the verse closes with “the blood shall be forgiven them.”
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:8. “Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.”

Question 15: When a man with two wives came to make his sons inherit, what was he forbidden to do?
  • A. To make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated
  • B. To withhold inheritance from the son of the wife he had hated
  • C. To divide his goods unequally between the sons of his two wives
  • D. To pass the inheritance to a son who had not yet come of age
  • E. To leave any portion to a daughter while a son yet remained alive
View Answer

Answer 15: A. The exact prohibition: he cannot make the beloved’s son firstborn before the son who is truly firstborn (the hated wife’s son). The legal birthright follows biological order, not paternal preference.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:16. “Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn.”

Question 16: The law of the captive bride opens with a description of what circumstance?
  • A. When the king of Israel taketh a portion from the women of the heathen
  • B. When the men of war return from the field to the camp of thy people
  • C. When thy elders of the city receive captives at the gates of the land
  • D. When the priest of the camp blesses the spoil before the assembly of thy people
  • E. When thou goest forth to war and the LORD delivers thy enemies into thy hand
View Answer

Answer 16: E. The setting is war, divine victory, and the taking of captives. The captive bride law applies only after the LORD has given the enemy into Israel’s hand.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:10. “When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive.”

Question 17: What charges did the parents bring against the rebellious son before the elders?
  • A. He is a glutton and a drunkard, who will not obey our voice
  • B. He is profane and a mocker of the elders of the city
  • C. He is fierce and a striker of his own household servants
  • D. He is foolish and a wanderer in the streets of his city
  • E. He is wicked and a transgressor of the LORD’s commandments
View Answer

Answer 17: A. The two charges are gluttony and drunkenness, framing the son’s character as one of self-indulgent rebellion rather than mere disobedience. The same “will not obey our voice” formula closes the indictment.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:20. “And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.”

Question 18: How does verse 1 describe the situation that triggers the heifer ritual?
  • A. A man slain in the city by the hand of an enemy known to all
  • B. A man found slain in the field, and it is not known who hath slain him
  • C. A woman slain at the gate while her husband was at the war
  • D. A child slain in the wilderness while passing among the tribes
  • E. A stranger slain at the inn while he was travelling in the land
View Answer

Answer 18: B. The triggering condition is a body found in the field, with the slayer unknown. The whole ritual exists because there is no killer to bring to justice and bloodguilt would otherwise rest on the land.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:1. “If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him.”

Question 19: Where were the parents of the rebellious son commanded to bring him?
  • A. Up to the high priest at the door of the tabernacle
  • B. Down to the captain of the host at the camp of the army
  • C. Out to the wilderness beyond the borders of his own city
  • D. Out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place
  • E. In to the chamber of the judges who sat in those days
View Answer

Answer 19: D. The destination is the elders at the city gate, the standard forum for capital judgment in Deuteronomy. The phrase “the gate of his place” emphasizes public, communal authority.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:19. “Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place.”

Question 20: What specific motive does verse 11 give for a man taking a captive woman to wife?
  • A. That she might bear him children to inherit his estate
  • B. That he might preserve her from the cruelty of his fellow soldiers
  • C. That he saw a beautiful woman among the captives, and he had a desire unto her
  • D. That her father had been a man of name in the conquered city
  • E. That he sought to comfort the widow of an enemy fallen in battle
View Answer

Answer 20: C. The verse names the motive plainly: he saw her, she was beautiful, he desired her. The law that follows is meant to constrain that raw desire into a process of dignity for the woman.
KJV Reference: Deuteronomy 21:11. “And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife.”

The chapter that opens with bloodguilt the city cannot trace closes with a body the land cannot keep overnight.

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