“A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or be given any other official responsibilities. He must be free to spend one year at home, bringing happiness to the wife he has married.
Parallel translations
- WEB When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business. He shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken.
- KJV When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.
- BSB If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
- NKJV “When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.
- NASB “When a man takes a new wife, he is not to go out with the army, nor be assigned any duty; he shall be free at home for one year and shall make his wife whom he has taken happy.
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
A newly married man is exempt from military service and public duty for one year so he can bring joy to his wife. God values the establishing of marriage and family.
Overview
This compassionate exemption let a new household take root before the husband faced the dangers of war or the burdens of office. It reflects God's high regard for marriage and the well-being of the wife in particular. The law's tenderness toward joy in marriage anticipates the gladness of the gospel, where Christ is the bridegroom rejoicing over His bride (John 3:29; Revelation 19:7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 5:18Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
- Deut 20:7What 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.”
- Titus 2:4–5that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
- Gen 2:24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
- Mark 10:6–9But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.
- Matt 19:4–6He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
- Eccl 9:9Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun.
- Eph 5:28–29Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
- 1 Cor 7:29But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
- 1 Cor 7:10–15But to the married I command — not I, but the Lord — that the wife not leave her husband
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 24:5 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.