What Does Deuteronomy 22:28 Mean in the King James?
If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
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 verb translated “lay hold” puts seizure before sex, so “lie with her” cannot by itself establish a mutual encounter.
THE MEANING
The verse sets before you a man who finds an unbetrothed virgin, lays hold of her, lies with her, and is discovered with her. Its verb for “lay hold” conveys taking hold or seizing, while the sentence says nothing about her consent or response. That silence remains visible alongside the physical taking.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The phrase “lie with her” does not itself establish mutuality: the sentence first says he seizes her, while her consent is never stated.
THE ROOT
וּתְפָשָׂהּ
u-tefasah
GROWS FROM
תפשׂ
taphas
To grasp, seize, take hold of, or handle.
“lay hold on her” in this verse is u-tefasah. The verb translated “lay hold” comes from a root for grasping or handling, rather than a word for sexual union. The sentence places that physical taking before “lie with her,” keeping the act of seizing in view.
ALSO GROWS
vatitpeshehu: “And she seized him” or “caught him” (Genesis 39:12).
וַתִּתְפְּשֵׂהוּ
The same root describes a hand taking hold of a person before a sexual demand, making the physical sense of “lay hold” concrete.
tofsei: “Those who handle” the Torah (Jeremiah 2:8).
תֹּפְשֵׂי
The root can describe handling something; here its object is a person, and its place before “lie with her” matters.
THE PATTERN
When Scripture describes sexual violence, it keeps force visible in the verbs leading into sex.
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:And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.THE THREAD
And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.The verb “caught” is also תפשׂ (taphas, “seize” or “take hold”). The shared root makes the physical taking clear; the surrounding words show that context, including a person’s response, matters.
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