Deuteronomy 21:11
in Deuteronomy 21if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife;
KJV
And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
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This verse in Deuteronomy 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBut nevertheless I also intellectually have "gone out to war against my enemies, and I saw there" in the plunder "a woman with a beautiful figure." Whatever we find said well and reasonably among our philosophical enemies, or we read anything said among them wisely and knowingly, we must cleanse it. We must remove and cut off all that is dead and worthless. It is as if one were trimming the hairs of the head and the nails of the woman taken from the spoils of the enemy. Only then would you take her as a wife.
This site's exposition
When thou goest forth to war
on Deuteronomy 21:10-14
A woman taken captive is brought into the house and a full month passes before anything else happens, in which she shaves her head, puts off the clothes she was captured in, and mourns her father and her mother. The text gives no reason for the shaving and the nails, and readers have supplied different ones: Adam Clarke takes it as the mark of leaving her former religion, Matthew Henry as a check on the man's desire, and Clarke adds that the Hebrew rendered pare her nails may as easily mean letting them grow. If the man then has no delight in her she goes free where she will, and he may not sell her for money, because thou hast humbled her. Albert Barnes reads the war in view as one against nations outside Canaan, since chapter 7 and chapter 20 give a different rule for the Canaanite cities.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Hast a desire unto her - Or, hast taken delight in her: which may be a modest expression for lying with her, and seems probable, because it is said, ver. 14, that he had humbled her.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-14-anchored-11-11
), it is true thou needest not ask her parents' consent, for she is thy captive, and is at thy disposal.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And seest among the captives a beautiful woman,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And seest - a beautiful woman - No forcible possession was allowed even in this case, when the woman was taken in war, and was, by the general consent of ancient nations, adjudged as a part of the spoils. The person to whose lot or share such a woman as is here described fell, might, if he chose, have her for a wife on certain conditions; but he was not permitted to use her under any inferior character.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“She shall ‘let them grow,’ [the reason being] that she should become repulsive.” This is Rashi’s language which accords with the words of Rabbi Akiba, 3 Sifre, Ki Theitzei. and so did Onkelos explain it [“and she shall let her nails grow”].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְרָאִיתָ֙ | veraita | and you will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בַּשִּׁבְיָ֔ה | bashivyah | among the [female] captive[s] | H7633 → | |
| אֵ֖שֶׁת | ʾeshet | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| יְפַת־ | yefat- | beautiful of | H3303 → | |
| תֹּ֑אַר | toar | appearance | H8389 → | |
| וְחָשַׁקְתָּ֣ | vechashakta | and you will love | H2836 → | 11 times |
| בָ֔הּ | vah | <in> <the> her | ||
| וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ | velakachta | and you will take [her] | H3947 → | 966 times |
| לְךָ֖ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ | leishah | to a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
וְרָאִיתָ֙and you will see
veraitaH7200 →1300 times
בַּשִּׁבְיָ֔הamong the [female] captive[s]
bashivyahH7633 →
אֵ֖שֶׁתa woman
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
יְפַת־beautiful of
yefat-H3303 →
תֹּ֑אַרappearance
toarH8389 →
וְחָשַׁקְתָּ֣and you will love
vechashaktaH2836 →11 times
בָ֔הּ<in> <the> her
vah
וְלָקַחְתָּ֥and you will take [her]
velakachtaH3947 →966 times
לְךָ֖for <the> yourself
lekha
לְאִשָּֽׁה׃to a wife
leishahH802 →781 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Proverbs 31:10A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:14
Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
- Proverbs 12:4
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Proverbs 18:22
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
- Ephesians 5:25–33
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
- Proverbs 3:15
She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.
- Proverbs 19:14
Through
Numbers 31:18but spare for yourselves every girl who has never had relations with a man.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 21:10–14
When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,
- 2 Chronicles 28:8–10
Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their kinsmen—women, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a great deal of plunder and brought it to Samaria.
- Leviticus 25:44
Your menservants and maidservants shall come from the nations around you, from whom you may purchase them.
- Deuteronomy 21:10–14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 7.6.7.