If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, the man still must pay an amount comparable to the bridal price of a virgin.
Parallel translations
- WEB If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
- KJV If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
- NKJV If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins.
- NASB If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the dowry for virgins.
- NLT But if her father refuses to let him marry her, the man must still pay him an amount equal to the bride price of a virgin.
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
If the father refuses the marriage, the man still pays the full bride-price. The woman is protected and compensated even if marriage does not occur.
Overview
The father's right to refuse safeguards the daughter from an unworthy man, while the required payment ensures she is not left disgraced and destitute. The law consistently protects the vulnerable woman's welfare. Such defense of the wronged reflects God's heart for the vulnerable, fully revealed in Christ's care for the lowly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Gen 34:12Demand a high dowry and an expensive gift, and I will give you whatever you ask. Only give me the girl as my wife!”
- 1 Sam 18:25Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
- Deut 22:29then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.
- Deut 7:3–4Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,
- Gen 23:16Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 22:17 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.