then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,
Parallel translations
- WEB then you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head and trim her nails.
- KJV Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
- NKJV then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails.
- NASB then you shall bring her into your home, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails.
- NLT If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The captive woman is brought into the home and shaves her head and trims her nails. These acts mark a transition out of her former life into a new identity.
Overview
Bringing her into the house, rather than the camp, signals protection and the beginning of a marriage process. Shaving the head and trimming the nails were likely signs of mourning and of purification, marking a clear break from her past. The law slows the man's desire and gives the woman space to grieve and transition, showing unusual sensitivity for its time.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Num 6:9If someone suddenly dies in his presence and defiles his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing—the seventh day.
- Lev 14:9On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.
- Eph 4:22to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- 1 Cor 11:6If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 21:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.