What Does Deuteronomy 22:17 Mean in the King James?
And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.
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 accusation is made of words that are also matters, and the cloth laid before the elders turns those words into a public case.
THE MEANING
An accusation about the daughter’s sexual status is brought before the city’s elders: the husband speaks, her father counters, and a cloth is laid out as evidence. The daughter has no spoken line in this verse, though her body and reputation are what the hearing concerns.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
An accusation is not itself a settled finding: the verse places a counterclaim and evidence before the elders.
THE ROOT
דְּבָרִים
devarim
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; its noun branch can mean word, matter, or thing.
Here the word can name both speech and matters: the charge is not just talk but a matter carried into judgment. The cloth supplies a visible counterclaim, placing spoken accusation and physical evidence together before the elders.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
The charge becomes a matter for the elders to consider.
dibber: Spoke or uttered
דִּבֵּר
This verb form highlights the act of voicing the accusation and the father’s reply.
וּפָרְשׂוּ
u-farsu
GROWS FROM
פרשׂ
p-r-ś
To spread out or extend.
“spread” in this verse is u-farsu. The verb makes the cloth’s role concrete: it is extended into public view so the claim can be examined. In Psalm 143:6, the same root describes hands extended toward God, linking evidence laid before judges with need laid bare in prayer.
ALSO GROWS
u-farsu: And they spread out
וּפָרְשׂוּ
The elders are shown the cloth as it is laid out before them.
perashti: I spread out
פֵּרַשְׂתִּי
Psalm 143:6 uses this form for stretching out hands toward God.
THE PATTERN
An accusation remains open to examination until counter testimony is heard and the matter is established.
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?THE THREAD
I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.The same verb used for spreading the cloth appears in the psalm’s “I stretch forth my hands.” In one verse, something is laid open before elders as evidence; in the other, hands are opened toward God in need.
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