Deuteronomy 21:12-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Deuteronomy 21:12 sn This requirement for the woman to shave her head may symbolize the putting away of the old life and customs in preparation for being numbered among the people of the Lord. The same is true for the two following requirements.
2. Deuteronomy 21:13 tn Heb “she is to…remove the clothing of her captivity” (cf. NASB); NRSV “discard her captive’s garb.”
3. Deuteronomy 21:13 tn Heb “sit”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “remain.”
4. Deuteronomy 21:13 tn The verb בּוֹא (boʾ; “to come”) with the preposition אֶל (ʾel; “to”) means “to approach, to come to” (HALOT 113 s.v. בּוֹא) and is a euphemism for coming together for sexual relations. A clearer euphemism has been used for the translation than the more literal “get together with.” See the note at 2 Sam 12:24 on this phrase being only a euphemism.
5. Deuteronomy 21:14 sn Heb “send her off.” The Hebrew term שִׁלַּחְתָּה (shillakhtah) is a somewhat euphemistic way of referring to divorce, the matter clearly in view here (cf. Deut 22:19, 29; 24:1, 3; Jer 3:1; Mal 2:16). This passage does not have the matter of divorce as its principal objective, so it should not be understood as endorsing divorce generally. It merely makes the point that if grounds for divorce exist (see Deut 24:1-4), and then divorce ensues, the husband could in no way gain profit from it.
6. Deuteronomy 21:14 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by the words “in any case.”
7. Deuteronomy 21:14 tn The Hebrew text includes “for money.” This phrase has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8. Deuteronomy 21:14 tn Or perhaps “must not enslave her” (cf. ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); Heb “[must not] be tyrannical over.”
9. Deuteronomy 21:14 sn You have humiliated her. Since divorce was considered rejection, the wife subjected to it would “lose face” in addition to the already humiliating event of having become a wife by force (21:11-13). Furthermore, the Hebrew verb translated “humiliated” here (עָנָה, ʿanah), commonly used to speak of rape (cf. Gen 34:2; 2 Sam 13:12, 14, 22, 32; Judg 19:24), likely has sexual overtones as well. The woman may not be enslaved or abused after the divorce because it would be double humiliation (see also E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy [NAC], 291).