What Does Deuteronomy 22:23 Mean in the King James?
If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
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 law reads the absence of a cry in the city as evidence of consent, though this verse itself never says whether she consents or resists.
THE MEANING
The verse names her as a young virgin already betrothed, then describes a man finding her in the city and lying with her; it does not say whether she consents or resists. The next line treats her failure to cry out in the city as grounds to punish them both, making her opportunity to be heard part of the law’s judgment. The text leaves a sharp difference between describing the act and establishing what happened to her.
THE ROOT
וְשָׁכַב
wə-shakhav
GROWS FROM
שכב
To lie down; also used for having sexual relations.
“lie with” in this verse is wə-shakhav. The Hebrew verb grows from the ordinary act of lying down and also names sexual intercourse. The verb itself does not encode her consent; the surrounding law locates its judgment in force, setting, and whether a cry is heard.
ALSO GROWS
shokhev: One who is lying down; in this context, one who has sexual relations.
שֹׁכֵב
Deuteronomy 22:25 uses this form for the man who lies with her, keeping the same action in view while assigning responsibility to him.
mishkav: A bed or place of lying; also sexual relations.
מִשְׁכָּב
The same root can name the physical setting or posture as well as the sexual act, giving the verse’s phrase a concrete bodily sense.
וּמְצָאָהּ
u-mətsā’ah
GROWS FROM
מצא
To find, come upon, or encounter.
“find” in this verse is u-mətsā’ah. The man is the active finder, and the woman is the one found; the wording reports the encounter from his action without telling us whether she consents. The same root returns in verse 27, where her cry and the absence of anyone to save her make the circumstances explicit.
ALSO GROWS
nimtsa: Be found; be present.
נִמְצָא
This form shifts from someone finding to someone or something being found, highlighting the difference between the man’s action and the woman’s position in this sentence.
metzi’ah: A finding or discovery.
מְצִיאָה
This related noun can make finding sound like a neutral discovery, but here the word is paired with a sexually charged act and a legal judgment.
THE PATTERN
The text assigns sexual culpability through its reading of force and whether the woman’s cry could be heard.
Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.THE THREAD
For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.This verse repeats the root מָצָא (matsa, “find”) from the present verse, but adds that the woman cried and no one could save her. The shared root links the scenes while the added details expose how the law makes her ability to be heard central, without this verse itself establishing consent.
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