Deuteronomy 20:7

Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.”

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the assembled Israelite army immediately before they advance into battle.

The words — The text employs אֵרַ֤שׂ ('e.Ras) to denote betrothal and לְקָחָ֔/הּ (le.ka.Cha/h) for taking a wife, distinguishing the legal engagement phase from the formal marriage.

The thread — This provision expands into the one-year home exemption in Deuteronomy 24:5, while Deuteronomy 28:30 and Deuteronomy 22:23 use betrothal language solely to describe women violated by other men, not casualties of war.

Why it lands — The verse requires men to complete their domestic commitments before combat, preventing the displacement of their future spouses by another soldier.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וּמִֽי־u./mi-and/ who?הָאִ֞ישׁha./'Ish[is] the/ man אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-who אֵרַ֤שׂ'e.Rashe has betrothed אִשָּׁה֙'i.Shaha woman וְלֹ֣אve./Lo'and/ not לְקָחָ֔הּle.ka.Cha/hhe has taken/ her יֵלֵ֖ךְye.Lekhlet him go וְיָשֹׁ֣בve./ya.Shoand/ let him return לְבֵית֑וֹle./vei.T/oto/ house/ his פֶּן־pen-lest יָמוּת֙ya.Muthe should die בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔הba./mil.cha.Mahin the/ battle וְאִ֥ישׁve./'Ishand/ a man אַחֵ֖ר'a.Cheranother יִקָּחֶֽנָּה׃yi.ka.Che./nahhe will take/ her

King James Version

And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 24:5 If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
Deuteronomy 28:30 You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.
Deuteronomy 22:23 If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her,
Matthew 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Luke 14:18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’
2 Timothy 2:4 A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.