Add parallel Print Page Options

19 They will fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation[a] ruined the reputation[b] of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 21 the 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 thing[c] in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge[d] the evil from among you.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:19 tn 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.
  2. Deuteronomy 22:19 tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
  3. Deuteronomy 22:21 tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nevalah) 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, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”
  4. Deuteronomy 22:21 tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.