If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the dowry for virgins.
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.
- BSB 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.
- NKJV If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of 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 34:12Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife.”
- 1 Sam 18:25Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul thought he would make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
- Deut 22:29then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days.
- Deut 7:3–4neither shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.
- Gen 23:16Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.
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.