Deuteronomy 22

13–19 God’s ideal for marriage has always been the union of one man and one woman that lasts until either one of them dies. Divorce is always a sign of sin, a falling short of God’s ideal (Mark 10:6–9). Jesus permitted divorce only in cases of marital unfaithfulness (Matthew 5:31–32; 19:9). Moses was apparently more lenient (see Deuteronomy 24:1–4 and comment), permitting divorce under certain limited conditions because the Israelites’ hearts were hard (Mark 10:4–5).

God gave many laws governing sexual relationships (see Leviticus 18:6–23); all sexual relations outside marriage were considered sinful. Both men and women were to remain virgins until after they were married; the same standard of purity applied to both sexes.

In practice, however, women were often treated unfairly. In these verses, procedures are laid down that provided legal recourse for a new bride who had been accused by her husband of not having been a virgin before marriage. These procedures not only protected the bride from being wrongfully treated by her husband, but they also provided an extra incentive for young girls to remain virgins until they married.

The outcome for the bride hinged on whether she or her parents could provide proof of her virginity (verse 14). The “proof” could be some blood stains from the marriage bed itself, which would indicate that her hymen had been intact. But more likely, the “proof” here refers to menstrual bleeding just prior to her marriage. In a time when contraceptives were unknown, sexual activity quickly resulted in pregnancy; hence, providing proof that the bride was not pregnant also served to “prove” she was a virgin. If such proof was provided, the husband was fined twice the usual bride-price and forbidden ever to divorce his wife.

20–21 However, if no proof of virginity could be provided, the new bride was to be stoned to death at the door of her father’s house. We must remember that she would have been engaged or pledged to her intended husband prior to the actual marriage, and according to the legal definition of adultery in biblical times she would have been considered “already married“ and therefore guilty of adultery.⁶¹ Accordingly, she was to be given the punishment of an adulteress, which was death (see verses 23–24).

22 See Exodus 20:14 and comment.

23–27 These verses deal with an engaged woman who has had sexual relations with a man other than her intended husband. If the encounter occurred inside a town where other people were nearby and the woman did not scream for help, she was judged to have consented to the act and was thus guilty of adultery (see verses 2021 and comment); in this case, both the man and the woman received the death penalty. If, however, the encounter occurred in the country, the woman was assumed to be innocent, because there would have been no one nearby to hear her scream.

28–29 See Exodus 22:16–17 and comment.

30 This law forbids a man to marry his father’s wife—that is, his stepmother or, if his father had multiple wives, any of those wives who was not his mother (see Leviticus 18:8). The prohibition against having sexual relations with one’s mother has been given in Leviticus 18:7.