Deuteronomy 22:30
in Deuteronomy 22A man is not to marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s marriage bed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.
KJV
A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 22
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA man shall not take his father's wife,.... Not marry her, whether his own mother, or a stepmother; or even, as Aben Ezra thinks, anyone that was deflowered by his father.
This site's exposition
If a man encounters a virgin who is not pledged in marriage
on Deuteronomy 22:28-30
The unbetrothed case ends in fifty shekels to the father and a marriage the man may never dissolve. Exodus 22:16-17 sets beside it a father's right to refuse the match.
This site's exposition
marry his father’s wife
Clarke reads the ban as the case of a stepmother, a young wife the son would marry once his father died. He thinks Solomon made it his pretext for killing Adonijah, who had asked for Abishag, 1 Kings 2:13 to 25.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And, probably, it is intended (as bishop Patrick notes) for a short memorandum to them carefully to observe all the laws there made against incestuous marriages, that being specified which is the most detestable of all; it is that of which the apostle says, It is not so much as named among the Gentiles, 1 Cor. v. 1 .
4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again. The kindness that was commanded to be shown in reference to an enemy ( Exod. xxxiii. 4 , &c.) is here required to be much more done for a neighbour, though he were not an Israelite, for the law is consonant to natural equity.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:32w-of-72
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A man shall not take his father’s wife - This is to be understood as referring to the case of a stepmother. A man in his old age may have married a young wife, and on his dying, his son by a former wife may desire to espouse her: this the law prohibits. It was probably on pretense of having broken this law, that Solomon put his brother Adonijah to death, because he had desired to have his father’s concubine to wife, 1Ki 2:13-25.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
If a man take a wife, &c.--The regulations that follow might be imperatively needful in the then situation of the Israelites; and yet, it is not necessary that we should curiously and impertinently inquire into them.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִקַּ֥ח | yikach | he will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֵ֣שֶׁת | ʾeshet | [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| אָבִ֑יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְגַלֶּ֖ה | yegaleh | he will uncover | H1540 → | 186 times |
| כְּנַ֥ף | kenaf | [the] skirt of | H3671 → | 109 times |
| אָבִֽיו׃ ס | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִקַּ֥חhe will take
yikachH3947 →966 times
אִ֖ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֵ֣שֶׁת[the] wife of
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
אָבִ֑יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יְגַלֶּ֖הhe will uncover
yegalehH1540 →186 times
כְּנַ֥ף[the] skirt of
kenafH3671 →109 times
אָבִֽיו׃ סfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 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
Ezekiel 16:8Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a…
it leads to
- Ruth 3:9
“Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
- Jeremiah 2:2–3
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness,…
- Romans 5:8
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Isaiah 43:4
Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.
- Ruth 3:9
Through
Leviticus 18:8You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 5:1
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 20:11
If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1
Through
1 Corinthians 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:8
You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Leviticus 18:8
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.