Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 21:13
and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite military commanders regarding the treatment of female captives taken in warfare, following the initial procedures of verses 10–12. The regulation applies immediately after the captive woman is brought into the victor’s household.
The words — The text specifies הֵסִירָה (hesirah) = she will remove, and שִׂמְלַת שִׁבְיָהּ (simlat shivyah) = clothing of her captivity, marking the physical end of her former status before a mandated period of residence.
The thread — The requirement to leave one’s former family and social identity appears in Psalms 45:10 and is echoed in Luke 14:26 as a demand for total allegiance.
Why it lands — The text mandates a fixed mourning period and a clear transition from captive to wife, while the subsequent verse in Deuteronomy 21:14 prohibits resale or enslavement. A reader must recognize that the law establishes concrete limits on the victor’s power and a protected timeline for the captive’s status change.
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
King James Version
And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
Cross-references
- Psalms 45:10 Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house,
- Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.