Deuteronomy 24:5

If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite assembly on the plains of Moab, codifying civil and military regulations before the Jordan crossing. This statute interrupts adjacent household laws to mandate a specific exemption from national service for a newly wed man.

The words — חֲדָשָׁה (cha.da.shah) means "new," and יֵצֵא (ye.tze') translates literally as "he will go out." The phrase אִישׁ אִשָּׁה חֲדָשָׁה (a man [has] taken a new wife) establishes the condition for the exemption.

The thread — The same exemption appears in Deuteronomy 20:7, which orders newly pledged men to return home before battle. The domestic priority aligns with Genesis 2:24’s one-flesh union and Proverbs 5:18’s directive to rejoice in one’s wife.

Why it lands — The text commands a one-year domestic exemption from war or forced labor for a newly married man. It requires prioritizing the stability of the new marriage over immediate civic or military obligation.

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

When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 20:7 Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.”
Proverbs 5:18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
Genesis 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Titus 2:4 In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children,
Mark 10:6 However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
Ecclesiastes 9:9 Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
Matthew 19:4 Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
Ephesians 5:28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
1 Corinthians 7:10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:29 What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;