What Does Deuteronomy 21:11 Mean in the King James?
And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word translated “desire” means to attach, but the woman is first named as a captive, so the verse places attachment inside unequal power.
THE MEANING
The verse holds beauty, desire, and captivity in one frame: a man sees a woman among captives and intends to take her as his wife. His wanting and taking are named; her choice is not. That silence leaves the power imbalance visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A man’s desire does not make a captive woman’s choice mutual or spoken.
THE ROOT
חָשַׁקְתָּ
chashaqta
GROWS FROM
חשק
ḥ-š-q
to cling or attach; to set one’s affection on
“desire” in this verse is chashaqta. This verb carries more than a passing wish: it can name an attachment that binds. The same root describes the LORD setting his love upon Israel and bands that join pillars, so here the attachment is spoken from the man’s side alone.
ALSO GROWS
chashaq: to attach oneself; to set affection on
חָשַׁק
This same verb names the LORD setting his love upon Israel in Deuteronomy 7:7.
mechushaqim: joined or filleted with bands
מְחֻשָּׁקִים
The word describes silver bands joining pillars in Exodus 27:17, making attachment concrete as binding.
שִּׁבְיָה
shivyah
GROWS FROM
שבה
sh-b-h
to take captive or carry away
“captives” in this verse is shivyah. The Hebrew locates the woman among the captive group before describing her beauty or the man’s desire. Captivity remains part of the sentence as it moves toward his intention to take her as a wife.
ALSO GROWS
shevi: captivity; captive prey
שְׁבִי
It keeps the condition of being captured present beneath the English phrase “among the captives.”
shavuy: a captive person
שָׁבוּי
This names the person held in captivity, the position from which the woman is seen in this verse.
וְלָקַחְתָּ
velaḳaḥta
GROWS FROM
לקח
l-q-ḥ
to take or receive
The Hebrew says to take her for oneself as a wife, making the man’s action explicit in the grammar. The root’s wider range includes both taking and receiving, but here the taking belongs to him while her response is unspoken.
ALSO GROWS
laqach: to take; to receive
לָקַח
This is the verb used for the man’s stated act of taking the woman as his wife.
leqach: teaching; instruction received
לֶקַח
The same root can name what is received as instruction, showing its reach from taking into oneself to receiving.
THE PATTERN
Scripture shows desire moving from sight toward taking, and treats the gaze itself as consequential.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.THE THREAD
The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:“Set his love upon” is the same root, חשק (chashaq), as the word translated “desire” here. In Deuteronomy 7, that attachment is paired with the LORD choosing Israel; here the man’s attachment is paired with taking a woman already captive, whose choice is left unspoken.
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