Deuteronomy 22:19

Deu 22:19 And they shall amerce him in an hundred [shekels] of silver, and give [them] unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

Ver. 19. He hath brought up an evil name.] Which is a kind of murder. {Eze 22:9} God shall clear the innocency of his slandered servants. {Psa 37:6 Isa 54:17} As the eclipsed moon, by keeping her motion, wades out of the shadow and recovers her splendour, so shall it be with such.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 22:19. Give them unto the father of the damsel — Because this was a reproach to his family, and to himself, as such misconduct of his daughter would have been ascribed to his neglect of properly instructing or watching over her. He may not put her away all his days — Thus he was deprived of the common benefit which every Israelite had who did not like his wife, which was to sue out a divorce.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22:19 100 pieces of silver: The husband, who had already paid the woman’s father the normal bride price, must now pay additional compensation for defaming her character.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For the fault of the child redoundeth to the shame of the parents: therefore he was recompensed when she was faultless.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

19. amerce] Or fine, also in E, Exo_21:22. On the estimate of the silver shekel as = 2sh. 9d., this came to £13. 15sh. It is paid to the father who had been responsible for his daughter’s integrity (cp. Deu_22:16, I gave my daughter to this man) and whose family name had been damaged by the slanderer; but also the national name, cp. a virgin of Israel. By § 127 of Ḫammurabi the false accuser of another man’s wife was branded.

and she shall be his wife] Heb. emphatic; and to him shall she (continue to) be to wife. It is just that he should not be free of his obligations to her, for the motive of his slander had been to get rid of her. But for her it is rough justice. A woman could not divorce a man. By § 142 of Ḫammurabi, if a woman repudiated her husband her past was investigated, and if she had no vice but the husband had belittled her she took her marriage portion and went back to her father’s house.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But if this thing be true,.... Which the husband of the damsel laid to her charge, that she was no virgin when married to him, and she had committed whoredom, of which there was plain proof:

and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel; by her parents, or those who had the care of her; or no sufficient reason could be assigned for the want of them, through any family defect, or any disorder of her own; which, as Maimonides (z) says, the judges were to inquire into.

(z) Hilchot Ishot, c. 11. sect. 12.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The fine was to be paid to the father, because the slander was against him principally as the head of the wife’s family. If the damsel were an orphan the fine reverted to herself. The fact that the penalties attached to bearing false witness against a wife are fixed and comparatively light indicates the low estimation and position of the woman at that time.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A hundred. Josephus only mentions 50. As it was presumed that the false accusation proceeded from a desire to defraud the woman of her dowry, the law obliged the husband to allow her double (Calmet) the usual sum. Yet this punishment, together with the scourging, was very inadequate to what the woman would have had to suffer if she had been condemned. (Haydock) --- St. Augustine (q. 33,) is surprised at this decision, as in other cases calumny was subjected to the law of retaliation, or punished with death. This shews also that wives, among the Jews, were considered as little more than servants. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Unto the father of the damsel; because this was a reproach to his family, and to himself, because such a miscarriage of his daughter would have been ascribed to his evil education.

He may not put her away all his days; which seems to have been his design in this false accusation, and therefore that liberty of a divorce which is permitted to others, Deu 24:1, shall be denied to him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The father - Because this was a reproach to his family, and to himself, as such a miscarriage of his daughter would have been ascribed to his evil education.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

AND THEY SHALL FINE HIM A HUNDRED SHEKELS OF SILVER. The meaning thereof is that after the husband was administered stripes — a punishment deduced from the expression and they shall chastise him — [he is to be fined a hundred shekels of silver]. For it was customary to write over a dowry of fifty shekels of silver to a virgin, but this person defamed her because he hated her and he wanted to send her away empty-handed. Therefore Scripture punished him with [a fine of] a hundred silver shekels, for the Torah punishes with a twofold measure, as in the case of the verse, he shall pay double. Although a kethubah (marriage contract) is only a matter of Rabbinic ordinance, 22:15 — Vol. II, p. 387. for whoever made such a condition with her, or who married her without qualification, yet it was customary to write a dowry for virgins, just as it is said, according to the dowry of virgins, Verse 16. and the majority did so. And if this woman had no kethubah, why should he have put forth wanton charges against her because he came to her and he hated her — he should have written her a bill of divorce and be freed of her, as it is written, if you hate [her] send [her] away. [Instead he brought wanton charges against her, therefore he is fined double the normal amount of the dowry of virgins even if he had not given her a kethubah.]

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.