Deuteronomy 21:7-17

7 and shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
8 Forgive thy people Israel, whom thou, Jehovah, hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel; and the blood shall be expiated for them.
9 So shalt thou put away innocent blood from thy midst, when thou shalt do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah.
10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou hast taken captives of them,
11 and thou seest among the captives a woman of beautiful form, and hast a desire unto her, and takest her as thy wife;
12 then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
13 and she shall put the clothes of her captivity from off her, and shall abide in thy house, and bewail her father and mother a full month, and afterwards thou mayest go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go according to her desire; but thou shalt in no wise sell her for money; thou shalt not treat her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.
15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and one hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and the firstborn son be hers that was hated;
16 then it shall be, in the day that he maketh his sons to inherit what he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn;
17 but he shall acknowledge as firstborn the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that is found with him; for he is the firstfruits of his vigour: the right of the firstborn is his.

Deuteronomy 21:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 21

This chapter treats of the beheading of the heifer, for the expiation of unknown murder, and the rules to be observed in it, De 21:1-9 of a beautiful captive woman an Israelite is desirous of having for his wife, and what methods he must take to accomplish it, De 21:10-14, of giving the double portion to the firstborn, which he must not be deprived of in favour of the son of a beloved wife, De 21:15-17 and of the stubborn and rebellious son, who remaining so must be put to death, De 21:18-21 and of burying a person hanged on a tree the same day he is executed, De 21:22,23.

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Lit. 'in the midst.'
  • [b]. Or 'shall be forgiven them.'
  • [c]. Lit. 'thou hast led captive his captivity.'
  • [d]. Lit. 'do.'
  • [e]. Lit. 'soul:' so ch. 23.24.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.