Deuteronomy 21:12

He should take her to his home, and there she must shave all the hair off her head and cut her fingernails to signify that now she does not belong to her people-group any more, but instead she is becoming an Israeli.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

In Context

11one of you may see among them a beautiful woman that he likes, and he may want to marry her.

13She must take off the clothes that she was wearing when she was captured, and put on Israeli clothes. She must stay in that man’s house and mourn for a month because of leaving her parents. After that, he will be allowed to marry her.

Read all of Deuteronomy 21

Cross References

Numbers 6:9‘If anyone dies very suddenly when he is near you, then your hair that you have dedicated to me is no longer sacred. So you must wait seven days and then shave it all off. Then you must perform a special ritual to cause yourself to become acceptable to me again.

Ephesians 4:22You were taught { They taught you} that you must put aside [MET] your evil nature; that is, that you must not behave like you formerly did. Your evil desires deceived you, making you want to do evil things and causing you to think that doing that was good for you; and your thinking like that was destroying you spiritually.

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 21:11-15

The Case of Captive Women. ( b. c. 1451.) 10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, 11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; 12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Deuteronomy 21:12