Deuteronomy 21 · Verse 12

Deuteronomy 21:12

Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
Deuteronomy 21:12, King James Version

Deuteronomy 21:12 in other translations

BSBthen you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,
WEBthen you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head and trim her nails.
ASVthen thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
YLTthen thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared her nails,
DARBYthen thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
BBEThen take her back to your house; and let her hair and her nails be cut;
WebsterThen thou shalt bring her home to thy house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails:

What does Deuteronomy 21:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 21:10-14

De 21:10-23. The Treatment of a Captive Taken to Wife. 10-14. When thou goest to war ... and seest among the captives a beautiful woman ... that thou wouldest have her to thy wife--According to the war customs of all ancient nations, a female captive became the slave of the victor, who had the sole and unchallengeable control of right to her person. Moses improved this existing usage by special regulations on the…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 21:10-14 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 She shall shave her head - This was in token of her renouncing her religion, and becoming a proselyte to that of the Jews. This is still a custom in the East; when a Christian turns Mohammedan his head is shaven, and he is carried through the city crying, la alahila allah we Mohammed resooli Allah; "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God." Pare her nails - ועשתה את צפרניה veasethah eth tsipporneyha, "she shall make her nails." Now whether this signifies paring or letting them grow, is greatly doubted among learned men. Possibly it means neither, but colouring the nails, staining them red with the hennah, which is much practiced in India to the present day, and which was undoubtedly practiced among the ancient Egyptians, as is evident from the nails of mummies which are found thus stained. The hennah, according to Hasselquist, grows in India, and in Upper and Lower Egypt; it flowers from May to August. The manner of using it is this: the leaves are powdered, and made into a paste with water: they bind this paste on the nails of their fingers and toes, and let it stand on all night; in the morning they are found to be of a beautiful reddish yellow, and this lasts three weeks or a month, after which they renew the application. They often stain the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet in the same way, as appears from many paintings of eastern ladies done in India and Persia, which now lie before me. This staining the soles of the feet with the hennah is probably meant in 2Sam 19:24 : Mephibosheth had not dressed (literally made) his feet - they had not been thus coloured.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 21:10-14

By this law a soldier was allowed to marry his captive, if he pleased. This might take place upon some occasions; but the law does not show any approval of it. It also intimates how binding the laws of justice and honour are in marriage; which is a sacred engagement.

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 21:10-14 →

Deuteronomy 21:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַהֲבֵאתָ֖הּva.ha.ve.Tahand you will bring herH935
אֶל\־'el-intoH413
תּ֣וֹךְTokh[the] middle ofH8432
בֵּיתֶ֑ךָbei.Te.khahouse yourH1004
וְגִלְּחָה֙ve.gi.le.Chahand she will shaveH1548
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
רֹאשָׁ֔הּro.Shahhead herH7218
וְעָשְׂתָ֖הve.'a.se.Tahand she will attend toH6213
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
צִפָּרְנֶֽיהָ\׃tzi.pa.re.Nei.hafinger-nails herH6856

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 21:12

  • Ephesians 4:22

    That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

  • 1 Corinthians 11:6

    For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

  • Leviticus 14:9

    But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.

  • Numbers 6:9

    And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
and she shall.This was in token of renouncing her religion, and becoming a proselyte to that of the Jews. This is still a custom in the East: when a Christian turns Mohammedan, his head is shaved, and he is carried through the city, crying, {la eelah eela allah wemochammed resoolu 'llahee,} "There is no God but the God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God."
1Co 11:6; Eph 4:22
pare her nails. or, suffer to grow. Heb. make, or dress.{Wëâsethah eth tzipparneyha,} "and she shall make her nails;" i.e., probably neither paring nor letting them grow, but dressing or beautifying them as the Eastern women still do by tinging them with the leaves of an odoriferous plant called {alhenna,} which Hasselquist (p. 246) informs us, "grows in India and in upper and lower Egypt, flowering from May to August. The leaves are pulverized and made into a paste with water: they bind this paste on the nails of their hands and feet, and keep it on all night. This gives them a deep yellow, which is greatly admired by Eastern nations. The colour lasts for three or four weeks before there is occasion to renew it. The custom is so ancient in Egypt, that I have seen the nails of mummies dyed in this manner."

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 21:11

    And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

  • Deuteronomy 21:12

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

  • Deuteronomy 21:13

    And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

Read all of Deuteronomy 21

Deuteronomy 21:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		La meterás en tu casa; y ella raerá su cabeza, y cortará sus uñas,
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		tu l’introduiras dans l’intérieur de ta maison; et elle rasera sa tête et se fera les ongles,
German
Elberfelder 1871		so sollst du sie in das Innere deines Hauses führen; und sie soll ihr Haupt scheren und ihre Nägel beschneiden
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		introduces eam in domum tuam: quæ radet cæsariem, et circumcidet ungues,