Deuteronomy 21:22-23·~1 min
Cursed Is Anyone Hung on a Tree
If a man is executed and his body is displayed on a tree, it must not stay there overnight. He must be buried that same day, because the one hung on a tree bears God's curse, and the land must not be defiled.
I22f a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, 23you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Section summaryEven after lawful execution, the body of the condemned must not remain exposed overnight. Burial the same day recognizes the shame of the curse while preventing the land God gives from being defiled.
Role in the chapterThis closing section returns to the chapter's wider concern for the land after bloodshed and judgment. It shows that punishment itself remains bounded by the holiness of the place Israel inhabits.