Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 22:13
Suppose a man marries a woman, has relations with her, and comes to hate her,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, delivering case law for community conduct before they enter the land. The verse opens a hypothetical legal scenario concerning a husband’s sudden hostility toward his newlywed wife.
The words — כִּֽי־ (ki-) translates literally as “if,” framing the passage as a conditional legal premise. שְׂנֵאָֽהּ (sne'ah) means “he will hate her,” marking a deliberate shift from marital union to active hostility.
The thread — This legal premise directly triggers the virginity accusation procedure in Deuteronomy 22:14. The dynamic of unreciprocated marital affection parallels Jacob’s treatment of Leah, who was given to him but unloved (Genesis 29:23; Genesis 29:31).
Why it lands — The text requires the community to suspend judgment and demand verified evidence before accepting a husband’s claim. Readers are instructed to follow established judicial safeguards rather than act on unilateral accusations or social pressure.
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
If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,
Cross-references
- Genesis 29:21 Finally Jacob said to Laban, “Grant me my wife, for my time is complete, and I want to sleep with her.”
- Genesis 29:23 But when evening came, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her.
- Genesis 29:31 When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
- Deuteronomy 24:1 If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.
- Judges 15:1 Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter.
- Ephesians 5:28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.