Logos Bible Study

Deuteronomy 22:15–21

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22:15Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity30 for the elders of the city at the gate. 22:16The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected31 her. 22:17Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out32 before the city’s elders. 22:18The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish33 him. 22:19They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation34 ruined the reputation35 of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

22:20But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 22:21the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing36 in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge37 evil from among you.

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Footnotes

  1. 30 In light of v. 17 this would evidently be blood-stained sheets indicative of the first instance of intercourse. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (), .
  2. 31 Heb “hated.” See note on the word “other” in .
  3. 32 Heb “they will spread the garment.”
  4. 33 Heb “discipline.”
  5. 34 Heb “for he”; the referent (the man who made the accusation) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion with the young woman’s father, the last-mentioned male.
  6. 35 Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
  7. 36 The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (névalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, 3:. Cf. “she committed a crime against Israel.”
  8. 37 Heb “burn.” See note on .