^21:10When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail¹⁹ and you take prisoners, ^21:11if you should see among them²⁰ an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife, ^21:12you may bring her back to your house. She must shave her head,²¹ trim her nails, ^21:13discard the clothing she was wearing when captured,²² and stay²³ in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have sexual relations²⁴ with her and become her husband and she your wife. ^21:14If you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go²⁵ where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell²⁶ her;²⁷ you must not take advantage of²⁸ her, since you have already humiliated²⁹ her.

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Footnotes

19 Heb “gives him into your hands.”
20 Heb “the prisoners.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
21 This requirement for the woman to shave her head may symbolize the putting away of the old life and customs in preparation for being numbered among the people of the Lord. The same is true for the two following requirements.
22 Heb “she is to … remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. ); “discard her captive’s garb.”
23 Heb “sit”; , , “remain.”
24 Heb “go unto,” a common Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations.
25 Heb “send her off.” The Hebrew term שִׁלַּחְתָּה (shillakhtah) is a somewhat euphemistic way of referring to divorce, the matter clearly in view here (cf. Deut 22:19, 29; 24:1, 3; Jer 3:1; Mal 2:16). This passage does not have the matter of divorce as its principal objective, so it should not be understood as endorsing divorce generally. It merely makes the point that if grounds for divorce exist (see Deut 24:1–4), and then divorce ensues, the husband could in no way gain profit from it.
26 The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
27 The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
28 Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. , , , , ); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
29 You have humiliated her. Since divorce was considered rejection, the wife subjected to it would “lose face” in addition to the already humiliating event of having become a wife by force (21:11–13). Furthermore, the Hebrew verb translated “humiliated” here (עָנָה, ’anah), commonly used to speak of rape (cf. Gen 34:2; 2 Sam 13:12, 14, 22, 32; Judg 19:24), likely has sexual overtones as well. The woman may not be enslaved or abused after the divorce because it would be double humiliation (see also E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy [], ).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take some of them prisoner, and if you see a beautiful woman among the captives, desire her, and want to take her as your wife, you are to bring her into your house. She is to shave her head, trim her nails, remove the clothes she was wearing when she was taken prisoner, live in your house, and mourn for her father and mother a full month. After that, you may have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife. Then if you are not satisfied with her, you are to let her go where she wants, but you must not sell her or treat her as merchandise, because you have humiliated her.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Suppose you go out to war against your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you, and you take some of them as captives. And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her. If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails, and change the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. She will stay in your home, but let her mourn for her father and mother for a full month. Then you may marry her, and you will be her husband and she will be your wife. But if you marry her and she does not please you, you must let her go free. You may not sell her or treat her as a slave, for you have humiliated her.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“When you go out for battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God gives them into your hand, and you lead the captives away, and you see among the captives a woman beautiful in appearance, and you become attached to her and you want to take her as a wife, then you shall bring her into your household, and she shall shave her head, and she shall trim her nails. And she shall remove the clothing of her captivity from her, and she shall remain in your house, and she shall mourn her father and her mother a full month, and after this you may have sex with her, and you may marry her, and she may become your wife. And then if you do not take delight in her, then you shall let her go to do whatever she wants, but you shall not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

KJV 1900King James Version

When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 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. 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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