If a man take a wife, and go in unto her and hate her,
A marriage sours, and the husband turns on his new wife and attacks her name in public. What should a community do with a charge no one can prove?
The accusation did not stay as gossip between two families. It went before the judges, and the man who made it paid if it proved false.
If a man had married a woman and later charged her with not being a virgin when he married her, the judges heard the case in the gate — the place of judgment. If her parents brought clear evidence to the court that she really had been a virgin, then her husband was accusing her falsely. In that case the man was punished. He paid a fine of one hundred shekels of silver to the father of the young woman. He also had to keep her as his wife, and he could never divorce her (vs. 13-19). We would naturally ask, was this fair to the wife? But this is one of the results of being under law. The wife would have to wait for eternity to balance this matter. How different is the case under grace, where believers have received the grace of God, so that they may show grace to one another.
One writer places this case under the ninth commandment. It is the only example Scripture gives.
We have only one case under the ninth commandment, and what a shameful one it is! What a heart man has! — that is to say, ours!
At first the law sounds like it is about a husband's rights. Commentators read it the other way: the rule stands there to guard the wife.
Deuteronomy 22 seems to hold rules that guard the people against a lack of kindness and mercy, and against anything that would offend natural feeling, whether in tenderness or in purity. We find the same about women. The law protected them from the dishonour done to them by a brutish, thoughtless husband, while impurity carried the death penalty.
Some readers find these chapters distasteful and ask why they are in the Bible. One writer answers that what God forbids shows what we are able to do.
We hear a great deal about the dignity of human nature. Many people find it very hard to admit that they really could commit some of the sins forbidden in this passage, and in other parts of God's Word. But we can be sure of this: when God commands us not to commit some particular sin, we really are able to commit it. This is beyond all question. God's wisdom would never build a dam if there were no current to hold back.
The chapter stacks small rules beside grave ones. The aim behind them goes deeper than order.
Everyone can see, though, that the great aim here is this: God would shape the heart of His people, in this relationship and to this degree, after His own affections. He would give them thoughts that are not merely righteous but holy — and more than that, thoughts mixed with tenderness when tenderness is called for.
Yet the same writer calls the whole arrangement imperfect.
Here, it is true, everything is imperfect. These rules rest on things simply taken for granted — divorce, for instance, and other things that were put up with. The full working of the Spirit of Christ would take them away completely. They exist only because of the hardness of man's heart. But the limits and conditions that the law of God sets keep in check the wickedness of a will that hardens itself while it oppresses others.
One writer traces Joseph's dilemma in Matthew 1:19 straight back to this chapter.
On Matthew 1:19: I take the word used there to mean the exposure that must have followed if Joseph had acted on Deuteronomy 22. Humanly speaking, appearances would have led that way. But God stopped this just man by sending the angel Gabriel, and through that blessed message enabled him to judge rightly.
- Heart — The law assumes a husband can hate the wife he chose and lie about her. What God forbids, we are able to do. The heart it describes is ours.
- Court — The charge could not stay a rumour. It went to the gate, where the parents brought evidence and the accuser, not the accused, paid for being wrong.
- Shield — Behind the ruling stands God's care for a wife exposed to a brutish husband. His aim is to shape His people's affections after His own.
- Limit — Commentators are frank that the arrangement is imperfect. It holds hardness of heart in check; it does not cure it.
- Grace — Under law the wronged wife had to wait for eternity to settle the account. Under grace, people who have received grace can show it to each other — and in Joseph's case God's message stopped the exposure this law would have brought.
and charge her with things for scandalous talk, and cause an evil name against her to be spread abroad, and say, This woman have I taken, and I came in unto her, and I did not find her a virgin;
A man turns against the woman he has just married and tells the town she was not a virgin. Why did God put such an ugly case in His law, and who was He protecting?
The husband could not settle this on his own word. The case went to a public hearing, where the court tested the evidence.
If a man married a woman and later charged her with not being a virgin when he married her, the case went to the gate, the place of judgment. If her parents brought clear evidence to the court that she had been a virgin, so that her husband was accusing her falsely, the court punished the man. It fined him one hundred shekels of silver and gave the money to the young woman's father. He also had to keep her as his wife, and he could not divorce her (vs.13-19).
This law sits in a chapter of rules about kindness and decency. It guards a wife from her own husband.
Deuteronomy 22 seems to hold rules that guard the people against a lack of kindness and mercy, and against anything that would offend natural feeling, whether in tenderness or in purity. The law also forbade all mixing in ploughing or sowing. We see the same care for women. It protected them from the dishonour done to them by a brutish, thoughtless husband, while impurity carried the death penalty.
The same writer notes that this law did not remove the evil; it fenced it in.
Some things are taken for granted here, and these rules are built on them. The full working of the Spirit of Christ would remove them completely. Divorce is one example, along with other things God put up with. They exist because of the hardness of man's heart. But the limits and conditions that God's law sets keep a check on the wickedness of a will that hardens itself while it oppresses others.
Why would God write a law about something so ugly? One writer answers that a command shows what people are capable of.
God's wisdom would never build a dam if there were no current to hold back. No one needs to tell an angel not to steal. But man has theft in his nature, so the command fits him. The same is true of every other forbidden thing. The ban proves the tendency, and proves it beyond all question. We must either admit this or say the outright blasphemy that God has spoken for nothing.
The same writer turns this into a test for everyday speech. We are all quick to repeat what we cannot prove.
We are all quick to jump to conclusions, to pick up impressions, to make room for guesses with nothing behind them, and to let prejudice twist and carry away our minds… we can do a grievous wrong to a friend, a brother, or a neighbour by voicing a false impression or a charge with no basis. This is very sinful in God's sight… Whenever someone brings a charge against another behind his back, we should insist that he prove his statement or withdraw it.
The law did not take the wife's side automatically. It asked for proof, and a true charge brought a severe penalty.
On the other hand, if the wife had been guilty of sexual immorality and had hidden it from her husband, she was to be stoned to death (vs.20-21). This was solemn judgment. But again, this was under law, and that same judgment cannot be carried out under grace, though God hates the crime. Grace seeks to restore rather than condemn.
One writer connects this law with Joseph in the Gospels.
I think the Greek word for making a public example of someone points to the exposure that must have followed if Joseph had acted on Deuteronomy 22. Appearances, humanly speaking, would have led there, if God had not stopped this just man by sending Gabriel, and enabled him, through the angel's blessed message, to judge righteous judgment.
These rules aimed at more than legal order. God was shaping what His people felt.
Everyone can see, though, that the great aim here is for God to shape the heart of His people in this relationship, and to the measure of His own affections. He would give them thoughts that are not merely righteous but holy, and more than that, mixed with tenderness when tenderness was needed.
- Accusation — A husband's word was not enough. The charge went to the gate, and evidence decided it.
- Protection — The law shields a wife from a brutish, thoughtless husband. A false accuser paid a fine and lost the right to divorce her.
- Exposure — The very existence of the law reveals what is in us: God does not build a dam where there is no current.
- Application — Repeating a charge you cannot prove is sin. Ask the speaker to prove it or take it back.
- Formation — God was shaping hearts, not just running a court. He wanted thoughts that are righteous and tender at once.
then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate;
A newly married man has turned on his wife and publicly claimed she was not a virgin when he took her. Before his word can destroy her, the law hands the next move to her parents. They carry the proof to the elders at the town gate, and the elders try the case in the open.
The rules gathered in this chapter look scattered. One purpose runs through them all: God shaping how His people feel, not only how they act.
Deuteronomy 22 gathers rules about righteousness, care, love, and tenderness — the smallest matters as well as the greatest. Everyone can see the great object here. God would form the heart of His people in this relationship, and measure it by His own affections. He would give them thoughts that are not merely righteous but holy. More than that, He would mix those thoughts with tenderness when the moment calls for it.
The husband in this case holds all the social power. The law steps between him and her.
Deuteronomy 22 seems to contain rules that guard the people from unkindness and lack of mercy. They also guard them from whatever would offend the natural sense of tenderness or purity. The same principle covers women. The law protected them from the dishonour a brutish, thoughtless husband would do them, while it punished impurity with death.
The parents do not go to a private arbitrator. The gate of an Israelite town was its courtroom, and the elders there held an office God Himself had set up.
People recognised the gate as an open court of justice. There the older and wiser men of good standing in the city examined civil and criminal cases. Moses authorised this form of local government and wrote it into his final instructions to the children of Israel on the borders of Canaan (compare Deuteronomy 16:18-20; Deuteronomy 21:18-21; Deuteronomy 25:7-9). So the elders of the city were its civil rulers, "ordained of God" to be such. They rewarded and protected the good and punished the evil, with the authority of magistrates, used according to His law (Joshua 20:4; Romans 13:1-4).
The father and mother bring more than their word. They bring the physical proof, and the outcome falls hard on the man who lied.
Suppose a man married a woman and then charged her with not being a virgin when he married her. The gate, the place of judgment, heard the case. If her parents brought clear evidence before the court that she had indeed been a virgin, her husband stood as a false accuser. The court then fined the man one hundred shekels of silver, which went to the father of the young woman. He also had to keep her as his wife, and he could never divorce her (vv. 13-19). We would naturally ask: was this fair to the wife? But this is one of the results of being under law. She would have to wait for eternity to see the matter balanced. How different it is under grace. Believers have received the grace of God, so they may show grace to one another.
One writer pauses less on the procedure than on the heart that could bring such a charge.
When it comes to the ninth commandment, we have only one case put before us, and what a shameful one it is! What a heart man has — that is to say, ours!
The same instinct that ruins a wife with a rumour shows up wherever people talk about each other. The remedy has not changed: make the accuser produce the evidence.
We are all prone to rush to hasty conclusions, to pick up impressions, to give room to groundless suspicions, and to let prejudice twist our minds and carry them away. We must guard against all of these... We may inflict a serious wrong on a friend, a brother, or a neighbour by voicing a false impression or a baseless charge... Whenever anyone brings a charge against another behind his back, we should insist that he prove his statement or withdraw it. If we did that, it would free us from a huge amount of evil speaking. That kind of talk is not only useless but truly wicked.
- Tenderness. God's aim in this chapter is to form the heart of His people by His own affections — holy thoughts, mixed with tenderness.
- Protection. Here that tenderness becomes law. It shields a wife from the dishonour a brutish, thoughtless husband would do her.
- The gate. The elders hear her defence in public. They were the city's God-ordained rulers, who protected the good and punished the evil.
- Proof. The parents must produce clear evidence. The charge stands or falls on it. A false accuser pays the father and can never divorce her.
- Application. This case is the one example the law gives under the ninth commandment. So make anyone who accuses another behind his back either prove it or drop it.
and the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man as wife, and he hates her;
A husband has accused his new wife of deceiving him, and the case has come before the elders at the city gate. Her father stands up to answer, and his words raise a hard question: how does God protect a woman whose own husband is attacking her name?
The father gave his daughter to this man, and now he answers for her. The case follows a set procedure, and it turns on evidence brought before the court.
If a man married a woman and then accused her of not being a virgin when he married her, the case was heard at the gate (the place of judgment). If her parents brought clear evidence before the court that she had indeed been a virgin, so that her husband was accusing her falsely, then the man was punished: he paid a fine of one hundred shekels of silver to the father of the young woman. But he had to keep her as his wife, and he could never divorce her.
The father does not only say the charge is false. He says the man hates her. That hatred is the cruelty this chapter is written against.
Deuteronomy 22 seems to hold rules that guard the people against a lack of kindness and mercy, and against whatever would offend natural feeling, whether in tenderness or in purity… We find the same about women: the law protected them from the dishonour done to them by a rough, thoughtless husband, while impurity was punished with death.
Rules this detailed tell us something about the God who gave them. Commentators read the whole group of laws as God shaping the heart of His people.
In Deuteronomy 22 we have a group of different rules about righteousness, care, love and tenderness — the smallest matters as well as the greatest… Anyone can see that the great aim here is that God would shape the heart of His people, in this relationship and by this measure, according to His own affections. He would give them thoughts that are not merely righteous but holy, and more than that, thoughts mixed with tenderness when tenderness is called for.
A fine does not cure a husband's hatred. The law here holds evil back, and the writers point past it to something better.
Some things are taken for granted here, and these rules are built on them — things that the full working of the Spirit of Christ would take away completely. Divorce, for example, and other things that were put up with. They exist only because of the hardness of man's heart. But the limits and conditions set by the law of God hold back the wickedness of a will that hardens itself while it oppresses others.
The ruling clears her name, yet it leaves her married to the man who attacked it. One writer asks the obvious question:
We naturally ask, was this fair to the wife? But this is one of the results of being under law. She would have to wait for eternity to balance the matter. How different it is under grace: believers have received the grace of God, so that they may show grace to one another.
Why would God make a law for a man who would smear his own wife? One answer is that a command shows what people are capable of.
God's wisdom would never build a dam if there were no current to hold back. There would be no need to tell an angel not to steal; but man has theft in his nature, so the command applies to him. It is the same with every other forbidden thing: the ban proves the tendency — proves it beyond all question.
This chapter appears again at the start of the New Testament. One writer links it to Joseph, and to what he came close to doing.
I think that acting on Deuteronomy 22 would have forced Joseph to expose her publicly. Humanly speaking, the way things looked would have led him to do it, if God had not stopped this just man by sending the angel Gabriel, whose blessed message enabled him to judge with righteous judgment.
- Accusation. A husband turns against his wife and attacks her name. The father's words in this verse answer for her.
- Court. Nothing is settled by rumour. The case goes to the gate, the place of judgment. Parents bring clear evidence, the false accuser pays a fine, and he can never divorce her.
- Tenderness. These rules guard the people against cruelty. They shield a wife from the dishonour a hard, thoughtless husband would do her.
- Dam. God does not build a dam where there is no current. The command itself proves what the human heart is capable of.
- Grace. Law could limit the hardness of man's will. Grace goes further: those who have received God's grace can show grace to one another.
and behold, he charges her with things for scandalous talk, saying, I found not thy daughter a virgin; and here are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.
The scene is a hearing at the town gate: a husband has accused his new wife of misconduct, and her father answers him before the elders. Why does a law like this sit in Scripture at all, and what does it show about the God who gave it?
The laws around this verse sit in a run of commands about kindness, decency and purity. One writer sees the whole chapter as God guarding His people against cruelty.
Deuteronomy 22 seems to contain rules to guard the people from a lack of kindness and mercy. They also guard against whatever would offend the natural sense of tenderness or purity. In the same way all mixture was forbidden in ploughing or sowing. We find the same care for women. They were protected from the dishonour done to them by a brutish, thoughtless husband, while impurity was punished with death.
The parents spread out the cloak this verse names. Older translations call it a "cloth," and the Hebrew word behind it is an ordinary word for clothing.
The two Hebrew words translated "cloth" are beged and simlah. They are also translated "garments," and they do not tell us what it was made of or how it was worked. In Exodus 31:10 and elsewhere, beged is the word for "cloths of service." In Numbers 4:6-13 it is the "cloth of blue" that covered the furniture when the tabernacle was moved. Simlah occurs in Deuteronomy 22:17 and 1 Samuel 21:9.
The husband's charge is a lie told to ruin a reputation. One writer places it under the ninth commandment, the one against false witness.
Under the ninth commandment we have only one case set out, and what a shameful one it is! What a heart man has — that is to say, ours!
The father is not making a private complaint. He gives evidence in court, and the law sets out what happens if the charge fails.
Suppose a man had married a woman and afterward charged her with not being a virgin when he married her. The case was heard in the gate, the place of judgment. If her parents then brought clear evidence to the court that she had indeed been a virgin, her husband was accusing her falsely. The man was to be punished. He was fined a hundred shekels of silver, and the money went to the father of the young woman. But he would have to keep her as his wife, and he could never divorce her (vv. 13-19). We would ask, was this fair to the wife? But this is one of the results of being under law... How different is the case under grace! Believers have received the grace of God, so that they may show grace to one another.
Why would God record a case this sordid? One writer's answer: what God forbids is what we are capable of.
The passages we would least expect to find in inspired Scripture have their own lesson to teach. They show us the moral material we are made of, and the moral depths we can sink into... We may be sure of this. When God commands us not to commit some particular sin, we really are capable of committing it. This is beyond all question. Divine wisdom would never build a dam if there were no current to be resisted.
God gave a law even for a family quarrel over a garment. That tells us about Him, not just about them.
It teaches us, in a way all its own, the wonderful way in which God provided for everything connected with His people. Nothing escaped His gracious notice; nothing was too small for His tender care. No mother could be more careful of her little child's habits and manners than God was of the smallest details in His people's daily life. And He is the Almighty Creator and moral Governor of the universe.
This same law stands in the background of Joseph's dilemma over Mary, where appearances pointed one way and God intervened.
I think the Greek word for public disgrace describes what would have followed if Joseph had acted on Deuteronomy 22. Humanly speaking, appearances would have led him there. But God stopped this just man by sending the angel Gabriel, and through that blessed message enabled him to judge rightly.
- Charge — the husband accuses his wife in public. That is false witness, and one writer calls it a shameful picture of the human heart.
- Court — the family does not settle it at home. They bring the evidence to the elders at the town gate.
- Cloth — the evidence is a garment. The same everyday Hebrew word covers the cloths that wrapped the tabernacle furniture.
- Consequence — if the charge fails, the man pays a fine to her father and may never divorce her. The wife still carries an unfair burden. Under grace, one writer says, it is different.
- Care — behind this small, sordid case stands a God who missed no detail of His people's daily life. His commands also show what we are capable of.
And the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him;
A husband has accused his new wife in public of not being a virgin. Her parents have produced the evidence, and the charge collapses. Now the court turns from the accused woman to the accusing man. What does God think of a man who tries to destroy a woman's name?
The verse sends the man to the elders of that city. Writers explain why Israel's judges sat in the town gate.
The judges sat in the gates of the cities, because everyone going out or coming in was to be under their eye. Justice was to be open-eyed and toward all. So it would come under the eyes of all — it could bear the light. There was to be no respect of persons, no taking of a gift. Righteousness in Israel was to be the basis of everything, the condition of life and of inheritance.
Neither the husband nor the woman's family settled this. The elders took him.
The man's crime is a lie told in public. If believed, it would have cost his wife her life. Commentators place this case under the commandment against false witness. They note how few examples of that sin the law gives.
As to the ninth commandment we have only one case supposed, and what a shameful one it is! What a heart man has — and that means ours!
One commentator says God's hatred of false witness did not end with the law.
Here we can see how God hates false witness. And we have to keep in mind that, though we are not under law but under grace, false witness is no less hateful to God. The more we enter into the grace in which we stand, the more we will hate false witness, slander, and evil speaking, in every shape and form. May the good Lord keep us from all such!
The whipping is only the first part of the penalty. The next verses add money and a lifelong duty. One writer lays out the whole procedure:
Suppose a man married a woman and then charged her with not being a virgin when he married her. The court heard the case in the gate, the place of judgment. If her parents brought clear evidence to the court that she had indeed been a virgin, so that her husband was accusing her falsely, then the man was to be punished. He paid a fine of a hundred shekels of silver to the father of the young woman. He also had to keep her as his wife, and he could never divorce her (vv. 13-19). We might ask, Was this fair to the wife? But this is one of the results of being under law. The wife would have to wait for eternity for this matter to be put right. How different is the case under grace! Believers have received the grace of God, so that they may show grace to one another.
Readers often wonder why God writes a law about a case this ugly. One writer answers that a rule exists because the appetite exists.
When God commands us not to commit this or that particular sin, we really are capable of committing it. This is beyond all question. Divine wisdom would never build a dam if there were no current to hold back. There would be no need to tell an angel not to steal; but man has theft in his nature, and so the command applies to him. It is just the same with every other forbidden thing. The prohibition proves the tendency — proves it beyond all question.
The punishment looks blunt. One writer sees the woman's honour behind it, and admits the whole arrangement is still imperfect.
Deuteronomy 22 appears to contain rules that guard the people from a lack of kindness and mercy, and from whatever would offend the natural feelings of tenderness or purity... We find the same about women: these rules protected them from the dishonour done by a brutish, thoughtless husband, while impurity carried the death penalty... Here, it is true, everything is imperfect. Some things are taken for granted here, and they lie under these rules — things the full working of the Spirit of Christ would take away entirely: divorce, for instance, and other things put up with because of the hardness of man's heart. But the limits and conditions set by the law of God keep in check the wickedness of a will that hardens itself while it oppresses others.
- Gate. The city elders tried the case in public, where justice was open to all eyes, with no favouritism and no bribes.
- Charge. Commentators treat the husband's slander as the sample case of false witness. God's hatred of slander did not soften when grace arrived.
- Cost. Whipping, a hundred shekels paid to her father, and a lifelong ban on divorcing her. Commentators admit the wife's lot was still hard, and say this is what life under law looks like.
- Current. God only builds a dam where there is a current. The existence of this law tells you what the human heart can do.
- Care. Behind the harsh rule stands a God who protects a woman from a brutish husband and teaches His people tenderness.
and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath caused an evil name to be spread abroad against a virgin in Israel. And she shall remain his wife he may not put her away all his days.
A newly married man accuses his wife in public of not having been a virgin. The court finds the charge false, and the sentence now falls on him: a fine paid to her father, and a marriage he can never end.
The chapter gathers rules that guard people from cruelty and coarseness. The rules about women sit inside that purpose.
Deuteronomy 22 seems to hold rules that guard the people against a lack of kindness and mercy, and against whatever would offend natural feeling, whether about tenderness or purity. We find the same about women: they were protected from the dishonour done to them by a coarse, thoughtless husband, while impurity was punished with death.
One writer traces the case from the charge to the sentence.
If a man married a woman and later charged her with not being a virgin when he married her, the case was heard in the gate — the place of judgment. Her parents could bring clear evidence to the court that she had indeed been a virgin, which showed that her husband was accusing her falsely. The man was then punished with a fine of one hundred shekels of silver, and the money went to the father of the young woman. But he had to keep her as his wife, and he could never divorce her.
Why did such a law need writing at all? One writer answers that a command against a sin shows what we are capable of.
But we can be sure of this: when God commands us not to commit this or that particular sin, we are truly capable of committing it. This is beyond all question. God's wisdom would never build a dam if there were no current to hold back. No one needs to tell an angel not to steal. But man has theft in his nature, so the command applies to him. The same holds for every other forbidden thing. The prohibition proves the tendency.
So a husband who would ruin his wife's name to be rid of her is no rare monster.
These rules aimed at more than restraint. They aimed at the heart.
Anyone can see that the great aim here is this: God would form the heart of His people in this relationship, and in this measure, according to His own affections. He would give them thoughts that are not merely righteous but holy — and not only that, but mixed with tenderness when tenderness was called for.
The sentence still ties the woman for life to the man who tried to ruin her. One writer faces that difficulty head on.
We should naturally question, Was this fair to the wife? But this is one of the results of being under law. The wife would have to wait for eternity to balance this matter. How different is the case under grace, where believers have received the grace of God, so that they may show grace to one another.
Law can hold a hard heart in check without changing it. Some of the customs it regulates only stood because hearts were hard.
Some things are taken for granted here, and these rules rest on them, though the full working of the Spirit of Christ would take them away altogether — divorce, for example, and other things that were put up with. They exist because man's heart is hard. But the limits and conditions that the law of God sets keep in check the wickedness of a will that hardens itself while it oppresses others.
This law lies behind a scene in Matthew's Gospel. Joseph learns that the woman he is engaged to is expecting a child, and he has to decide what to do.
I think the Greek word for making a public example describes the exposure that must have followed if Joseph had acted on Deuteronomy 22. Going by appearances alone, that is where he would have ended up. But God stopped this just man by sending the angel Gabriel, and the angel's blessed message enabled him to judge righteous judgment.
Strip the case down and the crime is a lie told in public about another person's character.
Here we can see how God hates false witness. And we must keep in mind that, though we are not under law but under grace, false witness is no less hateful to God. The more fully we enter into the grace in which we stand, the more we will hate false witness, slander, and evil speaking, in every shape and form.
- Name ruined — the crime is a husband fixing a bad name on his wife. God counts a ruined name as a real injury, and gives it a real sentence.
- Name cleared — the case went to the gate, the place of judgment. Her parents brought the evidence, and the court ruled against her accuser.
- Name costs — a hundred shekels went to her father; the man who spoke cheaply paid dearly.
- Name bound — he could never divorce her. Law checks a hard will but does not cure it, and the wife would have to wait for eternity to balance the matter.
- Name kept — grace has not softened the offence. False witness and slander stay hateful to God, and the more we know grace, the more we hate them.
But if this thing is true, [and] virginity hath not been found with the damsel;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
then they shall bring out the damsel unto the entrance of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die because she hath wrought infamy in Israel, committing fornication in her father's house; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst.
This verse ends a trial. A husband's charge against his bride has been proved. They bring her to the door of her father's house, where the sin was done, and the men of her city carry out the sentence. Two things stand out: the verse calls the sin "an outrageous thing in Israel", and its aim is to purge evil from the people.
One writer reads the whole chapter as God shaping the hearts of His people, not just their conduct.
In Deuteronomy 22 we have a group of rules about righteousness, care, love and tenderness — the smallest matters as well as the greatest… Yet anyone can see the great object here. God would form the heart of His people in this relationship, and measure it by His own affections. He would give them thoughts that are not merely righteous but holy, and mixed with tenderness when tenderness is called for.
The first half of this trial deals with a husband who invents the charge. There the law falls on him.
If a man married a woman and then charged her with not being a virgin when he married her, the judges heard the case in the gate, the place of judgment. Her parents could bring clear evidence to the court that she had indeed been a virgin. Then the husband stood as a false accuser, and the court fined him one hundred shekels of silver and gave it to the young woman's father. He also had to keep her as his wife, and he could never divorce her.
The same writer calls this sentence solemn justice, and then marks what grace changes.
On the other hand, if the wife had been guilty of fornication and had hidden this from her husband, they were to stone her to death. This was solemn judgment. But again, this was under law, and the same judgment has no place under grace, though God hates the crime. Grace seeks to restore rather than to condemn.
Some readers wonder why a law like this belongs in the Bible at all. One writer answers by asking what God's commands assume about the people who receive them.
We hear a great deal about the dignity of human nature. Many people find it very hard to admit that they really could commit some of the sins this section forbids… But we can be sure of this. When God tells us not to commit a particular sin, we truly are able to commit it. This is beyond all question. Divine wisdom would never build a dam where there was no current to hold back.
The last line of the verse is not unique to this case. The same call runs on into the New Testament.
All through Scripture we can see one thing. God has always called His people to turn away from evil and to live for His glory, because they are His people. Long ago it was written, "Holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore," and we often read, "So you shall purge the evil from your midst." In the New Testament we read, "You shall be holy"; "Be imitators of God, as beloved children"; "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." Our relationship to God allows no lower walk.
In Israel the men of the city acted. In the church the assembly acts, and with a different end in view.
In the church we have a case of "putting away" at Corinth. The assembly had to put away from among themselves the wicked person who was there. They cast him out. Later he repented, and then the believers at Corinth were told to forgive him and receive him back into communion (2 Cor. 2:6-11). Putting away an evil person is clearly necessary, because the presence of God, who is holy, demands it… but always with the hope that restoration may follow.
The verse names the sin as whoring in Israel — a wrong against the whole nation, not one home. One writer traces the picture to its root.
The sin of adultery pictures Israel's departure from God. It compares the LORD's exclusive relationship with Israel, out of all the nations of the earth, to a marriage. God has taken up the closest relationships of human life to show us the fullness of His love towards men, and how near His heart delights to bring us to Himself. So the sin that breaks through a love shown like this is all the greater… We shrink from these descriptions. By them God would teach us to hate what is far worse in His sight: the human sin is only a shadow of the greater sin.
- Heart, not just conduct. God is not only writing rules. He is forming His people's hearts to match His own affections — holy thoughts, mixed with tenderness.
- Mirror. God never builds a dam where there is no current. This law names a sin we are truly able to commit.
- Both ways. The same trial that condemns a guilty wife also punishes a lying husband. He pays a fine of a hundred shekels and can never divorce her.
- Purge. The call to put evil away runs from Israel to the church. The reason is the same in both: God is holy, and He lives among His people.
- Restore. Under law the sentence was death; under grace the aim of putting away is repentance and welcome back.