Deuteronomy 21:13
in Deuteronomy 21and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
KJV
And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe [Deuteronomic] law wishes males to have responsible sexual relations with their marriage partners, solely for the generation of children. This is clear when a bachelor is prevented from enjoying immediate sexual relations with a woman prisoner of war. If he once falls in love with her, he must let her cut her hair short and mourn for thirty days. If even so his desire has not faded away, then he may father children by her. The fixed period of time enables the overpowering impulse to be scrutinized and to turn into a more rational appetency.
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
Raiment of captivity - Those sordid raiments which were put upon her when she was taken captive. Bewail her father and mother - Either their death, or which was in effect the same, her final separation from them.
And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her,.... Her beautiful garments, and gay apparel, in which she was taken captive; and which tended to stir up the stronger affection for her, and greater desire after her; and therefore, as some think, were ordered to be removed, to abate the ardour of love to her.
Quisquid amas cupias non placuisse nimis--We should moderate our affection for those things which we are tempted to love inordinately. Or rather, (2.) This was done in token of her renouncing idolatry, and becoming a proselyte to the Jewish religion.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Bewail her father and her mother a full month - This is prescribed from motives of humanity, that the woman might have time and leisure to detach her affections from their natural ties, and prepare her mind for new ones.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The Rabbis have commented in the Sifre: 15 Sifre, Ki Theitzei 213 and Yebamoth 48b. “You have no privilege in her except cohabitation.” By this the Rabbis meant to say that betrothal with money or a writ. This is a document stating.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
“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”].
[AND IT SHALL BE, IF THOU HAVE NO DESIRE FOR HER,] THEN THOU SHALT LET HER GO WHITHER SHE WILL. The Rabbis have said thereon in the Sifre: 44 Sifre, Ki Theitzei. “But not to her fathers’ house.
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
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵסִ֩ירָה֩ | vehesirah | and she will remove | H5493 → | 299 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שִׂמְלַ֨ת | simlat | [the] clothing of | H8071 → | 29 times |
| שִׁבְיָ֜הּ | shivyah | captivity her | H7628 → | 49 times |
| מֵעָלֶ֗יהָ | mealeiha | from on <the> her | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְיָֽשְׁבָה֙ | veyashevah | and she will dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָ | beveitekha | in house your | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וּבָֽכְתָ֛ה | uvakhetah | and she will weep for | H1058 → | 114 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אָבִ֥יהָ | ʾaviha | father her | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אִמָּ֖הּ | ʾimah | mother her | H517 → | 220 times |
| יֶ֣רַח | yerach | a month of | H3391 → | |
| יָמִ֑ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְאַ֨חַר | veachar | and after | H310 → | 715 times |
| כֵּ֜ן | ken | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| תָּב֤וֹא | tavo' | you will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙ | ʾeleiha | into her | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וּבְעַלְתָּ֔הּ | uvealtah | and you will be husband her | H1167 → | 84 times |
| וְהָיְתָ֥ה | vehayetah | and she will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְךָ֖ | lekha | of you | ||
| לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ | leishah | <into> a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
וְהֵסִ֩ירָה֩and she will remove
vehesirahH5493 →299 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שִׂמְלַ֨ת[the] clothing of
simlatH8071 →29 times
שִׁבְיָ֜הּcaptivity her
shivyahH7628 →49 times
מֵעָלֶ֗יהָfrom on <the> her
mealeihaH5921 →5755 times
וְיָֽשְׁבָה֙and she will dwell
veyashevahH3427 →1079 times
בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָin house your
beveitekhaH1004 →2046 times
וּבָֽכְתָ֛הand she will weep for
uvakhetahH1058 →114 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אָבִ֥יהָfather her
ʾavihaH1 →1212 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אִמָּ֖הּmother her
ʾimahH517 →220 times
יֶ֣רַחa month of
yerachH3391 →
יָמִ֑יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
וְאַ֨חַרand after
veacharH310 →715 times
כֵּ֜ןthus
kenH3651 →771 times
תָּב֤וֹאyou will go
tavo'H935 →2568 times
אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙into her
ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times
וּבְעַלְתָּ֔הּand you will be husband her
uvealtahH1167 →84 times
וְהָיְתָ֥הand she will become
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
לְךָ֖of you
lekha
לְאִשָּֽׁה׃<into> a wife
leishahH802 →781 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.