What Does Deuteronomy 22:14 Mean?
And sets charges of speech against her, and brings out an evil name upon her, and says, "I took this woman, and when I drew near to her, I did not find her a maiden."
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:THE KEY
The accusation is not merely spoken; it is brought out against her as a name that can shape how others see her.
THE MEANING
The verse presents a man speaking against a woman, saying that after taking her and coming to her, he found her not a maid. His words are framed as an attack on her name, not a neutral report. The charge acts on her public identity even as it remains his assertion.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that an accusation is only a private opinion: here, a charge against her sexual history is treated as an act that places an evil name upon her.
THE ROOT
דְּבָרִים
devarim
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; the word-family also refers to a word, matter, or affair.
The Hebrew phrase speaks of “acts of words,” presenting the accusation as something done through speech. In this word-family, speech and the matter being alleged share a root, holding the words and the charge together.
ALSO GROWS
davar: word, matter, or affair
דָּבָר
This branch carries both spoken words and the matter under discussion, echoing how the speech becomes the accusation itself.
dibber: spoke; to speak
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form makes the accusation an act of speaking, as the verse describes the man speaking against her.
וְהוֹצִיא
vehotsi
GROWS FROM
יצא
To go out or emerge; in the causative form, to bring out.
“brings out an evil name upon her” in this verse is vehotsi. The verb gives the accusation the shape of something brought out against her. The Hebrew root’s sense of going out adds force to “bring up”: he makes the damaging name emerge in speech.
ALSO GROWS
yatsa: went out, came forth
יָצָא
This base form shows the movement of something emerging, while the verse uses a causative form to describe bringing the accusation out.
yetze: will go out, will come forth
יֵצֵא
This form keeps the same root consonants and image of emergence, illuminating the force of making a name come forth against her.
THE PATTERN
Speech becomes consequential when it is brought out as an accusation against someone’s name.
For the mouth of the restless and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me; they speak against me with a lying tongue.They said this while pressing him, that they might have something to speak against him. But Jesus bent low and scratched into the ground with his finger, as though he did not hear them.Death and life are in the hand of the tongue, and those who love it eat its fruit.THE THREAD
And they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought out an evil name upon a maiden of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not send her away all his days.The phrase “brought up an evil name” returns, making the connection between the accusation and its effect explicit. The verb comes from יצא (yatsa, go out), the same root used here for bringing the name out against her.
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