The elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;
- BSB Then the elders of that city shall take the man and punish him.
- NKJV Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him;
- NASB Then the elders of that city shall take the man and rebuke him,
- NLT The elders must then take the man and punish him.
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
Upon proving the charge false, the elders take and punish the slandering husband. False accusation brings real consequences.
Overview
Having heard the evidence, the elders discipline the husband for his false and damaging accusation. The penalty falls on the slanderer, not the innocent wife. This enforces the principle that bearing false witness is a serious offense, and it deters men from cruelly defaming their wives to escape marriage.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Exod 18:21Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
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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 22:18 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
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