Deuteronomy 21:7
“They shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.”
What does Deuteronomy 21:7 mean?
When a murder victim was found and no one knew who did it, the elders of the nearest town had to perform a ritual to clear their community's name. They would wash their hands while declaring these words, essentially saying: "We didn't do this, and we didn't stand by and ignore it either." The "eyes" part matters because it wasn't just about innocence of the act itself, but about not turning a blind eye to injustice in their midst. Today, this reminds us that we bear some responsibility for the world around us, not just for our own direct actions. It's a sobering ancient practice that asks: when we see wrong happening, can we honestly say we've done what we should?