## Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 207

###### Sifrei Devarim 207:1
[Sifrei Devarim 207:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/207:1)

(דברים כא ד) **וְהוֹרִידוּ זִקְנֵי הָעִיר הַהִיא** – מִצְוָה בְּזִקְנֵי הָעִיר הַהִיא.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
(Devarim 21:4) "And *the elders of that city* shall bring the heifer down": I might think that this is (only) a mitzvah, (but not a categorical requirement); it is, therefore, written again "the elders of that city," after having been written before (verse 3), to make it a categorical requirement. From here they ruled: If the body were found near the border or near a city inhabited mostly by gentiles or near a city lacking a *beth-din*, they would not measure.


###### Sifrei Devarim 207:2
[Sifrei Devarim 207:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/207:2)

**אֶת הָעֶגְלָה אֶל נַחַל אֵיתָן** – כְּמַשְׁמָעוֹ, קָשֶׁה; וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינוֹ אֵיתָן – כָּשֵׁר.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
("And they shall bring the heifer down) to a hard river-bed": And whence is it derived that it is valid even if it is not hard? From (*Ibid*.) "in the river bed" — even if it is not hard.


###### Sifrei Devarim 207:3
[Sifrei Devarim 207:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/207:3)

עוֹרְפִים אוֹתָהּ בְּקוֹפִיץ מֵאֲחוֹרֶיהָ, וּמְקוֹמָהּ אָסוּר מִלִּזְרוֹעַ וּמִלַּעֲבוֹד. יָכוֹל יְהֵא אָסוּר לִסְרוֹק שָׁם פִּשְׁתָּן וּלְנַקֵּר שָׁם אֶת הָאֲבָנִים? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: **אֲשֶׁר לֹא יֵעָבֵד בּוֹ וְלֹא יִזָּרֵעַ**, זְרִיעָה בִּכְלָל הָיְתָה, וְלָמָּה יָצָאת? לְהַקִּישׁ אֵלֶיהָ – מָה זְרִיעָה מְיֻחֶדֶת שֶׁהִיא עֲבוֹדַת קַרְקַע; יָצְאוּ אֵלּוּ, שֶׁאֵין עֲבוֹדַת קַרְקַע.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
("a hard river-bed) which shall not be worked": I might think that it is forbidden to comb flax there and to chisel stones there; it is, therefore, written "and which shall not be sowed." Sowing was included in all (labor). Why was it singled out? To make it a paradigm, viz.: Just as sowing is distinctly in the soil, so, all (such labors are forbidden), to exclude those which are not labors of the soil.


###### Sifrei Devarim 207:4
[Sifrei Devarim 207:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/207:4)

**וְעָרְפוּ שָׁם**, נֶאֱמַר כָּאן עֲרִיפָה וְנֶאֱמַר לְהַלָּן (שמות יג יג) עֲרִיפָה, מָה עֲרִיפָה הָאֲמוּרָה כָּאן – עוֹרְפָהּ בְּקוֹפִיץ מֵאַחֲרֶיהָ, וְקוֹבְרָהּ, וַאֲסוּרָה בַּהֲנָיָה, אַף עֲרִיפָה הָאֲמוּרָה לְהַלָּן – עוֹרְפָהּ בְּקוֹפִיץ מֵאֲחוֹרֶיהָ, וְקוֹבְרָהּ, וַאֲסוּרָה בַּהֲנָיָה.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
"and they shall break there the neck of the heifer": It is written here "breaking," and elsewhere (Vayikra 5:18) "breaking." Just as there, he breaks the neck with a hatchet from behind, so, here. "and they shall break *there* the neck": It is written here "there," and, elsewhere, "there." Just as there, he buries it and it is forbidden to derive benefit from it, so, here. [("a hard river-bed) which shall not be worked": I might think that it is forbidden to comb flax there and to chisel stones there; it is, therefore, written "and which shall not be sowed." Sowing was included in all (labor). Why was it singled out? To make it a paradigm, viz.: Just as sowing is distinctly in the soil, so, all (such labors are forbidden), to exclude those which are not labors of the soil.]


###### Sifrei Devarim 207:5
[Sifrei Devarim 207:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/207:5)

**בַּנָּחַל** – אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינוֹ אֵיתָן.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
"in the river bed" — even if it is not hard.