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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite assembly on the plains of Moab, delivering civil statutes to govern their conduct upon entering the land. This ruling is positioned between a preceding case of unpledged virginity and a succeeding prohibition against marrying a father's wife.

The words — The Hebrew verb נָתַן (na.tan) commands the fixed transfer of fifty shekels of silver (כֶּסֶף, ke.sef) to the victim's father. The text explicitly requires the perpetrator to take the woman as his wife and prohibits divorce for the duration of his life.

The thread — This permanent marriage mandate stands in structural contrast to the divorce allowance in Deuteronomy 21:14 and parallels the hundred-shekel fine for slander in Deuteronomy 22:19. The legal sequence continues in Deuteronomy 22:30 with a separate regulation concerning a father's marital rights.

Why it lands — The text establishes a non-negotiable financial and marital penalty for sexual violation, removing the victim's agency from the arrangement. It requires the reader to recognize the statute's function as a binding economic and social deterrent rather than a restorative provision.

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

וְ֠נָתַןVe./na.tanand/ he will give הָאִ֨ישׁha./'Ishthe/ man הַשֹּׁכֵ֥בha./sho.Khevwho/ lay עִמָּ֛הּ'i.Ma/hwith/ her לַאֲבִ֥יla./'a.Vito/ [the] father of הַֽנַּעֲרָ֖הha./na.'arthe/ young woman חֲמִשִּׁ֣יםcha.mi.Shimfifty כָּ֑סֶףKa.sefsilverוְלֽוֹ־ve./lo/v-and/ of/ himתִהְיֶ֣הtih.Yehshe will become לְאִשָּׁ֗הle./'i.Shah<into>/ a wife תַּ֚חַתTa.chatbecause אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherthat עִנָּ֔הּ'i./Nahhe has humiliated/ her לֹא־lo'-not יוּכַ֥לyu.Khalhe will be able שַׁלְּחָ֖הsha.le.Cha/hto send away/ her כָּל־kol-all יָמָֽיו׃ סya.Ma/vdays/ his

King James Version

Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

Cross-references

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.
Deuteronomy 21:14 And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.
Deuteronomy 22:24 you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.