God’s Word Translation
Deuteronomy 22:30
30A man must never marry his father’s wife because this would disgrace his father.
Deuteronomy 22:30 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.
- New International Version (NIV)A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not dishonor his father’s bed.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"A man shall not take his father's wife, so that he does not uncover his father's nakedness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s bed.
Context of Deuteronomy 22:30
28This is what you must do when a man rapes a virgin who isn’t engaged. When the crime is discovered, 29the man who had sexual intercourse with her must give the girl’s father 1¼ pounds of silver, and she will become his wife. Since he raped her, he can never divorce her as long as he lives. A man must never marry his father’s wife because this would disgrace his father.
Read all of Deuteronomy 22Deuteronomy 22:30 word by word
לֹא־יִקַּ֥ח אִ֖ישׁ אֶת־אֵ֣שֶׁת אָבִ֑יו וְלֹ֥א יְגַלֶּ֖ה כְּנַ֥ף אָבִֽיו׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 22:30
- Leviticus 27:20But if you don’t buy it back and it is sold to someone else, you cannot buy it back.
- Leviticus 18:8Never have sexual intercourse with your stepmother. She is related to you through your father.
- Leviticus 20:11Whoever has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife has violated his father’s marriage. Both he and his father’s wife must be put to death. They deserve to die.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1Your own members are aware that there is sexual sin going on among them. This kind of sin is not even heard of among unbelievers—a man is actually married to his father’s wife.
- Ruth 3:9“Who are you?” he asked. She answered, “I am Ruth. Spread the corner of your garment over me because you are a close relative who can take care of me.”
- Ezekiel 16:8“ ‘I went by you again and looked at you. You were old enough to make love to. So I spread my robe over you, and covered your naked body. I promised to love you, and I exchanged marriage vows with you. You became mine, declares the Almighty Lord.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 22:30
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 30A man shall not take his father's wife - This is to be understood as referring to the case of a stepmother. A man in his old age may have married a young wife, and on his dying, his son by a former wife may desire to espouse her: this the law prohibits. It was probably on pretense of having broken this law, that Solomon put his brother Adonijah to death, because he had desired to have his father's concubine to wife, 1 Kings 2:13-25.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-30Verses 13-30 These and the like regulations might be needful then, and yet it is not necessary that we should curiously examine respecting them. The laws relate to the seventh commandment, laying a restraint upon fleshly lusts which war against the soul.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 30The phrase his father’s wife does not refer to a man’s own mother. Sexual relations with one’s mother were considered a more serious offense. Such acts were clearly forbidden in the law of Moses (see Leviticus 18:7–8, 29).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-3013-30. If a man take a wife, &c.--The regulations that follow might be imperatively needful in the then situation of the Israelites; and yet, it is not necessary that we should curiously and impertinently inquire into them. So far was it from being unworthy of God to leave such things upon record, that the enactments must heighten our admiration of His wisdom and goodness in the management of a people so perverse and so given to irregular passions. Nor is…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 22:30
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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