Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 22:30
A man is not to marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s marriage bed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The passage functions as a boundary statute within a larger legal code addressed to the Israelite assembly, immediately following a decree that a man who violates a virgin must marry her and never divorce her.
The words — יְגַלֶּה (ye.gal.leh) translates literally as "he will uncover," serving as the technical Hebrew term for sexual violation that defines the prohibited act.
The thread — This prohibition against violating a father’s wife appears in the covenant curses at Deuteronomy 27:20, the holiness code at Leviticus 18:8, and the apostolic rebuke of Corinthian immorality at 1 Corinthians 5:1.
Why it lands — The text commands strict marital boundaries to prevent the dishonor of a father’s marriage bed, requiring readers to uphold family structures and reject sexual unions that breach them.
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
A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 27:20 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Leviticus 18:8 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
- Leviticus 20:11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
- Ruth 3:9 “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
- Ezekiel 16:8 Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.
- 1 Corinthians 5:13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”