Deuteronomy 22:30

30 A man shall not marry his father's wife, thereby violating his father's rights.

Deuteronomy 22:30 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 22:30

A man shall not take his father's wife
Not marry her, whether his own mother, or a stepmother; or even, as Aben Ezra thinks, anyone that was deflowered by his father. Jarchi interprets it of his father's brother's wife, which he was obliged to marry by virtue of the law in ( Deuteronomy 25:5 )

nor discover his father's skirt;
or lie with her his father had thrown his skirt over, or married; and which being the first, is mentioned here as a sample to all the rest forbidden ( Leviticus 18:7 ) or, as Bishop Patrick expresses it, is a "short memorandum", to make them careful to observe all the other laws respecting incestuous marriages and copulations there delivered.

Deuteronomy 22:30 In-Context

28 If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act,
29 the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the young woman's father, and she shall become his wife. Because he violated her he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
30 A man shall not marry his father's wife, thereby violating his father's rights.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Ch 23.1 in Heb
  • [b]. Heb [uncovering his father's skirt]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.