Deuteronomy 22:23

“Suppose in some town a man sees a young woman who is engaged/promised to be married to another man, and he is caught having sex with [EUP] her.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

In Context

22“If a man is caught while he is having sex with another man’s wife, both of them must be executed. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice in Israel.

24You must take both of them to the ◄gate of/central meeting place in► that town. There you must execute them both by throwing stones at them. You must execute the young woman because she did not shout for help even though she was in the town. And the man must be executed because he had sex [EUP] with someone who was already engaged/promised to be married. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you.

Read all of Deuteronomy 22

Cross References

Deuteronomy 20:7If anyone among you has become engaged to marry a woman but has not married her yet [RHQ], he should go home. If he stays here and dies in the battle, someone else will marry her.’

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 22:14-30

The Punishment of Fornication. ( b. c. 1451.) 13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, 14 And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: 15 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: 16 And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Deuteronomy 22:23