DEUT634 We do have instances in the Book of Deuteronomy where punishments were given for a certain group of transgressions and the explanation offered seems to suggest not so much retributive or expiatory considerations as primarily utilitarian or deterrent ones. Thus, we find [this and following verses, Deuteronomy 17:13, 21:21]. Nachmanides makes it clear that these locutions indicate that the harshness of the penalty in these cases is not generated by the mere grievousness of the sin, but by the need to have the punishment act as a deterrent against future occurrences (Nachmanides on Deuteronomy 21:21). This introduces into the Torah's concept of justice an element of consequentialism. That is to say, one justifies punishment not only by the fact that the agent deserves it, but by the beneficial consequences the punishment will have on others. This would seem to imply that the welfare of society as a whole is to be viewed as a positive moral value for which the interests of the individual may sometimes be sacrificed.