Deuteronomy 22:14

14 and seeketh occasions by which he may leave her, and he putteth against her the worst name, and saith, I have taken this wife, and I have entered to her, and I found not her a virgin (and I did not find her a virgin);

Deuteronomy 22:14 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 22:14

And give occasions of speech against her
Among her neighbours, who by his behaviour towards her, and by what he says of her, will be led in all company and conversation to traduce her character, and speak of her as a very bad woman:

and bring up an evil name upon her;
take away her good name, and give her a bad one; defame her, and make her appear scandalous and reproachful to all that know her: though the Jews understand this not of private slander, but of bringing an action against her in a public court of judicature, the substance of which follows: "and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid"; the sense is, that he had married her, and when he came to cohabit with her as man and wife, it appeared to him that she was vitiated, and not a pure virgin. This is the charge in court against her, the action laid by him; so Jarchi observes, a man might not say this but before a magistrate, in a court of judicature, which is thus represented by Maimonides F16;

``a man comes to the sanhedrim, and says, this young woman I married, and I did not find her virginities; and when I inquired into the matter, it appeared to me that she had played the whore under me, after I had betrothed her; and these are my witnesses that she played the whore before them.''


FOOTNOTES:

F16 Hilchot Naarah Betulah, c. 3. sect. 6.

Deuteronomy 22:14 In-Context

12 Thou shalt make little cords by four corners in the hems of thy mantle, with which thou art covered. (Thou shalt put tassels on the four corners of the hem of thy mantle, with which thou art covered.)
13 If a man weddeth a wife, and afterward hateth her,
14 and seeketh occasions by which he may leave her, and he putteth against her the worst name, and saith, I have taken this wife, and I have entered to her, and I found not her a virgin (and I did not find her a virgin);
15 (then) the father and mother of her shall take her, and they shall bear with them the tokens of her virginity to the elder men of the city, that be in the gate (who be at the gate);
16 and her father shall say, I gave my daughter (for a) wife to this man, and for (that) he hateth her,
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.