What Does Deuteronomy 22:13 Mean in the King James?

If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,

Deuteronomy 22:13 · KJV

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 verse places physical union and hatred in one relationship, showing that proximity can coexist with rejection.

THE MEANING

This verse names a painful truth that remains present: a marriage and sexual union do not guarantee affection. The bond can exist while rejection is also present.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the assumption that marital or sexual union proves affection: the verse names hatred within that very relationship.

THE ROOT

וּשְׂנֵאָהּ

u-sne'ah

GROWS FROM

שנא

sh-n-ʾ

To hate or hold in hostility.

“hate” in this verse is u-sne'ah. The verse’s verb names rejection within a relationship that already includes taking a wife and going in to her. Its related forms make that hostility visible as a continuing stance, not something erased by physical closeness.

ALSO GROWS

sane: To hate

שָׂנֵא

This is the verb used in the verse: hatred is stated alongside the marital and sexual bond.

sin'ah: Hatred

שִׂנְאָה

The noun names the same hostile stance as a condition that can persist within a relationship.

sone: One who hates; a hater

שׂוֹנֵא

This form describes a person by the relational posture the verse exposes.

THE PATTERN

Hatred can persist inside existing bonds, and scripture names it rather than letting proximity conceal it.

And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

Genesis 29:31 · KJVHatred is named within a household bond, showing that closeness does not erase rejection.

Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Proverbs 10:12 · KJVThe verse names the conflict hatred creates and sets it beside love’s covering action.

He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

1 John 2:9 · KJVA claim of closeness to the light can coexist with hatred toward another person.

THE THREAD

And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

Genesis 29:31 · KJV

Deuteronomy’s ⁨וּשְׂנֵאָהּ⁩ (u-sne’ah, “and hates her”) and Genesis’s ⁨שְׂנוּאָה⁩ (senu’ah, “hated”) come from the same root, ⁨שנא⁩ (sane, “to hate”). One names hatred alongside marital union; the other names it within a household, showing that a bond can remain while rejection is present.

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