Deuteronomy 22:20

20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found,

Deuteronomy 22:20 in Other Translations

20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:

20 But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman,

20 “But suppose the man’s accusations are true, and he can show that she was not a virgin.

20 But if it turns out that the accusation is true and there is no evidence of the girl's virginity,

20 But if this accusation is true and no evidence of the young woman's virginity is found,

Deuteronomy 22:20 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 22:20

But if this thing be true
Which the husband of the damsel laid to her charge, that she was no virgin when married to him, and she had committed whoredom, of which there was plain proof:

and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel;
by her parents, or those who had the care of her; or no sufficient reason could be assigned for the want of them, through any family defect, or any disorder of her own; which, as Maimonides ^F26 says, the judges were to inquire into.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Hilchot Ishot, c. 11. sect. 12.

Deuteronomy 22:20 In-Context

18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him.

19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found,

21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you.

22 If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 17:4