Deuteronomy 22:17
וְהִנֵּה־הוּא שָׂם עֲלִילֹת דְּבָרִים לֵאמֹר לֹֽא־מָצָאתִי לְבִתְּךָ בְּתוּלִים וְאֵלֶּה בְּתוּלֵי בִתִּי וּפָֽרְשׂוּ הַשִּׂמְלָה לִפְנֵי זִקְנֵי הָעִֽיר׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְהִנֵּה־ה֡וּא שָׂם֩ עֲלִילֹ֨ת דְּבָרִ֜ים לֵאמֹ֗ר לֹֽא־מָצָ֤אתִי לְבִתְּךָ֙ בְּתוּלִ֔ים וְאֵ֖לֶּה בְּתוּלֵ֣י בִתִּ֑י וּפָֽרְשׂוּ֙ הַשִּׂמְלָ֔ה לִפְנֵ֖י זִקְנֵ֥י הָעִֽיר׃
νῦν οὗτος ἐπιτίθησιν αὐτῇ προφασιστικούς λόγους, λέγων οὐχ εὕρηκα τῇ θυγατρί σου παρθένια, καὶ ταῦτα τὰ παρθένια τῆς θυγατρός μου, καὶ ἀναπτύξουσιν τὸ ἱμάτιον ἐναντίον τῆς γερουσίας τῆς πόλεως.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
imponit ei nomen pessimum, ut dicat: Non inveni filiam tuam virginem: et ecce hæc sunt signa virginitatis filiæ meæ. Expandent vestimentum coram senioribus civitatis:
He aquí que él la ha acusado de cosas vergonzosas, diciendo: ‘No he encontrado en tu hija las señales de la virginidad’; y sin embargo, estas son las señales de la virginidad de mi hija.” Extenderán el paño ante los ancianos de la ciudad.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y, he aquí, él le pone tachas de algunas cosas, diciendo: No he hallado tu hija virgen; empero, he aquí las señales de la virginidad de mi hija. Y extenderán la sábana delante de los ancianos de la ciudad.
And now he has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘ I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.’ But here is the proof of her virginity.” And they shall spread out the cloth before the city elders.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse reports the accusation formula a husband would state against his new wife: he claims he did not find "virginities" in her, while the parents assert that the tokens of virginity belong to their daughter. The verse ends with the sequential action of spreading out the garment before the city elders as evidence.
Key words
- hinneh ("there!", H2009) — an interjection marking a dramatic or attention-drawing statement, introducing the accusation scene.
- sam ("he has made", H7760J) — qal perfect, a completed action; the husband "has made/placed" accusatory words against her.
- 'alilot devarim ("deeds of words", H5949 + H1697L) — construct chain combining "deeds" and "words," an idiomatic pairing describing false or pretextual charges.
- betulim ("virginities", H1331) — masculine plural noun (though referring to a female), used abstractly/generically rather than as a countable singular; occurs twice in the verse.
- paresu ("they will spread out", H6566) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the narrative sequence after the accusation, describing the procedural response.
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence opens with hinneh ("there!"), a marker that draws attention to the scene about to unfold, followed by the independent pronoun hu' ("he") emphasizing the subject before the verb sam ("he has made/placed"). The construct phrase 'alilot devarim ("deeds of words") functions as an idiom for baseless accusations, introduced by the infinitive le'mor ("to say/saying") that opens direct speech. The accusation itself uses lo' matzati ("I did not find") plus betulim ("virginities") — a plural noun form applied to a singular referent (the daughter), likely reflecting a generic or abstract plural rather than multiple instances. The parents' rebuttal mirrors this exact noun, betulei ("virginities of"), in construct with biti ("my daughter"), creating a direct verbal echo between accusation and counter-claim. The final clause shifts to a narrative sequential perfect, paresu ("they will spread out"), describing the procedural act of displaying the garment lifney ziqnei ha'ir ("before the elders of the city").
Differences between versions
The LXX renders 'alilot devarim ("deeds of words") as προφασιστικούς λόγους ("pretextual words"), an interpretive rendering rather than a literal construct-chain translation. The Vulgate diverges further, rendering the same phrase as nomen pessimum ("a very bad name/reputation"), which does not correspond directly to either the Hebrew construct or the LXX phrasing. Regarding betulim ("virginities," H1331), the Vulgate and several translations (RV1909 "señales de la virginidad," SBLIBRE "las señales de la virginidad," BSB "proof of her virginity") add the word "signs/proof," a clarifying addition not present in the Hebrew noun itself, which states simply "virginities" without any word meaning "signs" or "evidence."
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.