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Deuteronomy 20:7

in Deuteronomy 20

Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.

KJV

And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.

This verse in Deuteronomy 20

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? - It was customary among the Jews to contract matrimony, espouse or betroth, and for some considerable time to leave the parties in the houses of their respective parents: when the bridegroom had made proper preparations, then the bride was brought home to his house, and thus the marriage was consummated.

This site's exposition

And the officers shall speak unto the people

on Deuteronomy 20:5-9

Three men are sent home over things left unfinished: a new house not dedicated, a vineyard not eaten of, a wife betrothed and not taken. The reason given each time is the same, lest he die in the battle and another man have it, so the release guards the man's stake in the land rather than his life. 24:5 gives a newly married man a full year at home, and Albert Barnes reads the same one year limit into this list. The fourth case stands apart, since the fearful and fainthearted go home for the sake of the ranks, and Judges 7:3 has Gideon use those words and watch twenty and two thousand men leave.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her?....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

And God would not be served in his wars by pressed men, that were forced into the army against their will, but they must all be perfectly volunteers. 3 , Thy people shall be willing. In running the Christian race, and fighting the good fight of faith, we must lay aside every weight, and all that which would clog and divert our minds and make us unwilling.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

And the officers shall speak unto the people--literally, Shoterim, who are called "scribes" or "overseers" (Ex 5:6). They might be keepers of the muster-roll, or perhaps rather military heralds, whose duty it was to announce the orders of the generals (2Ch 26:11).

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וּמִֽי־and who?

    umi-H4310423 times

  • הָאִ֞ישׁ[is] the man

    haishH3761663 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H8345497 times

  • אֵרַ֤שׂhe has betrothed

    ʾerasH78111 times

  • אִשָּׁה֙a woman

    ʾishahH802781 times

  • וְלֹ֣אand not

    velo'H38085168 times

  • לְקָחָ֔הּhe has taken her

    lekachahH3947966 times

  • יֵלֵ֖ךְlet him go

    yelekhH19801546 times

  • וְיָשֹׁ֣בand let him return

    veyashoH77251056 times

  • לְבֵית֑וֹto house his

    leveitoH10042046 times

  • פֶּן־lest

    pen-H6435133 times

  • יָמוּת֙he should die

    yamutH4191839 times

  • בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔הin the battle

    bamilchamahH4421320 times

  • וְאִ֥ישׁand a man

    veishH3761663 times

  • אַחֵ֖רanother

    ʾacherH312166 times

  • יִקָּחֶֽנָּה׃he will take her

    yikachenahH3947966 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Timothy 2:4

    A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 2:4

      Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts.

    • Luke 8:14

      The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does…

    • 2 Peter 2:20

      If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse…

    • 1 Corinthians 9:25–26

      Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.

    • 1 Corinthians 7:22–23

      For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.

  • Through

    Matthew 1:18

    This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy…

    it leads to

    • Galatians 4:4–5

      But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

    • Luke 1:27–38

      to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

    • Job 14:4

      Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.