Deuteronomy 22:19

They are also to fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given a virgin of Israel a bad name. And she shall remain his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite assembly in Moab, instructing local elders on the judicial response when a man falsely accuses his new wife of premarital unfaithfulness.

The words — וְעָנְשׁוּ (ve-'anoshu) denotes a judicial penalty or fine, and כֶּסֶף (kesef) specifies silver as the required currency for that penalty.

The thread — The fine and forced marriage appear in Deuteronomy 22:29, while the divorce restriction contrasts with the provisions in Deuteronomy 24:1 and Jesus’ reference in Matthew 19:8.

Why it lands — The text commands the accuser to pay the bride’s father and permanently retain his wife, requiring the reader to accept that false defamation carries fixed financial and relational consequences.

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 they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 22:29 then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.
Matthew 19:8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart. But it was not this way from the beginning.
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.