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Deuteronomy 21:14

in Deuteronomy 21

And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not deal with her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.

KJV

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 21

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
Thou shalt not make merchandise of her - Rather, thou shalt not constrain her: literally “treat her with constraint,” or “treat her as a slave.”

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 Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); having made a fool of her, he might not make a prey of her. This intimates how binding the laws of justice and honour are, particularly in the pretensions of love, the courting of affections, and the promises of marriage, which are to be looked upon as solemn things, that have something sacred in them, and therefore are not to be jested with.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her;....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

If his love should afterwards cool and he become indifferent to her person, he was not to lord it over her, neither to sell her in the slave market, nor retain her in a subordinate condition in his house; but she was to be free to go where her inclinations led her.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

[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.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Deuteronomy 21:14:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Deuteronomy 21:13:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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

17 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.

  • וְהָיָ֞הand it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • לֹ֧אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • חָפַ֣צְתָּyou delight

    chafatztaH2654 →74 times

  • בָּ֗הּin <the> her

    bah

  • וְשִׁלַּחְתָּהּ֙and you will let go her

    veshilachtahH7971 →845 times

  • לְנַפְשָׁ֔הּfor self her

    lenafshahH5315 →754 times

  • וּמָכֹ֥רand certainly <sell>

    umakhorH4376 →80 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תִמְכְּרֶ֖נָּהyou will sell her

    timkerenahH4376 →80 times

  • בַּכָּ֑סֶףfor <the> money

    bakasefH3701 →403 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תִתְעַמֵּ֣רyou will treat as a slave

    titamerH6014 →

  • בָּ֔הּ<in> <the> her

    bah

  • תַּ֖חַתbecause

    tachatH8478 →505 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רthat

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עִנִּיתָֽהּ׃ סyou have humiliated her

    ʾinitahH6031 →82 times

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

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Deuteronomy 22:29then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.5 worksGenesis 34:2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.4 worksJudges 19:24Look, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this man.”4 worksDeuteronomy 22:24you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.3 worksDeuteronomy 22:19They are also to fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given a virgin of Israel a bad name. And she shall remain his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.3 worksExodus 21:7–11And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.2 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Esther 2:14She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name.1 works

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

    Deuteronomy 22:29

    then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 22:19

      They are also to fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given a virgin of Israel a bad name. And she shall…

    • Deuteronomy 22:24

      you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he…

  • Through

    Judges 19:24

    Look, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this…

    it leads to

    • Genesis 19:8

      Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these…

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 22:19

    They are also to fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given a virgin of Israel a bad name. And she shall…

    it leads to

    • Matthew 19:8–9

      Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart; but it was not this way from the beginning.

    • Deuteronomy 22:29

      then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as…

    • Deuteronomy 24:1–4

      If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her…

  • Through

    Genesis 34:2

    When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 5:28

      But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

    • Proverbs 13:20

      He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

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.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.

Read on in Deuteronomy 21 →