Deuteronomy 20:7
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And what man is there that has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And what man is there that has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Or if any man is newly married and has had no sex relations with his wife, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another man may not take her.
Webster's Revision
And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return to his house, lest he should die in battle, and another man should take her.
World English Bible
What man is there who has pledged to be married a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her."
English Revised Version (ERV)
And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
Definitions for Deuteronomy 20:7
Clarke's Deuteronomy 20:7 Bible Commentary
Betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? - It was customary among the Jews to contract matrimony, espouse or betroth, and for some considerable time to leave the parties in the houses of their respective parents: when the bridegroom had made proper preparations, then the bride was brought home to his house, and thus the marriage was consummated. The provisions in this verse refer to a case of this kind; for it was deemed an excessive hardship for a person to be obliged to go to battle, where there was a probability of his being slain, who had left a new house unfinished; a newly purchased heritage half tilled; or a wife with whom he had just contracted marriage. Homer represents the case of Protesilaus as very afflicting, who was obliged to go to the Trojan war, leaving his wife in the deepest distress, and his house unfinished.
Του δε και αμφιδρυφης αλοχος Φυλακῃ ελελειπτο,
Και δομος ἡμιτελης· τον δ' εκτανε Δαρδανος ανηρ,
Νηος αποθρωσκοντα πολυ πρωτιστον Αχαιων.
Iliad, 1. ii., ver. 100.
"A wife he left,
To rend in Phylace her bleeding cheeks,
And an unfinish'd mansion: first he died
Of all the Greeks; for as he leap'd to land,
Long ere the rest, a Dardan struck him dead."
Cowper.
