Deuteronomy 22:30

22:30 (23:1)52 A man may not marry53 his father’s former54 wife and in this way dishonor his father.55

Sign up for the Verse of the Day

Get beautiful Bible art delivered to your inbox. We’ll send you a new verse every day to download or share.

52	sn Beginning with 22:30, the verse numbers through 23:25 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:30 ET = 23:1 HT, 23:1 ET = 23:2 HT, 23:2 ET = 23:3 HT, etc., through 23:25 ET = 23:26 HT. With 24:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
53	tn Heb “take.” In context this refers to marriage, as in the older English expression “take a wife.”
54	sn This presupposes either the death of the father or their divorce since it would be impossible for one to marry his stepmother while his father was still married to her.
55	tn Heb “uncover his father’s skirt” (so ASV, NASB). This appears to be a circumlocution for describing the dishonor that would come to a father by having his own son share his wife’s sexuality (cf. NAB, NIV “dishonor his father’s bed”).