complete verse (Deuteronomy 20:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 20:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Or maybe there is a man who is set to marry a girl and he is near to be married? If there is, let him return home, let him not die in battle and then another man marries that girl.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If some man here has not had the chance to marry the woman he has just become engaged to he may go home. If he died in battle, someone else would marry her."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If there is one among you (plur.) who is getting-married, let- him -go-home for he might die in the battle and other man will-marry his wife-to-be.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If anyone among you has become engaged to marry a woman but has not married her yet , he should go home. If he stays here and dies in the battle, someone else will marry her.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 20:7

Betrothed a wife: this means, in modern terms, to become engaged to a woman. In Hebrew culture at that time, once a man had “betrothed” a woman, she was considered to be his wife, even before they started living together (see Deut 22.23-24). And such a relationship could be broken only by a formal divorce. So betrothed was more than “engagement” is in most modern societies. The Greek verb in the Septuagint used to translate the Hebrew verb here is the one that is used in Luke 2.5 of Joseph and Mary. Deut 24.5 states that a newly-married man would be given one year’s exemption from military duty. Other ways to express this are “agreed to marry a woman” or even “Has promised to marry a woman.”

Taken: this could almost sound like forcible intercourse. It is better to say something like “married her.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “paid the bride-price for a wife, but has not yet married her,” with a footnote to explain “the bride-price”: “Thereby making her his wife legally, even though the marriage had not yet taken place.”

This verse ends in the same way as verses 5 and 6.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .