Translations
KJVPrimary
King James VersionAnd she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GThen she said to her father, 'Let this one thing be done for me: give me two months to go and roam the mountains and weep over my maidenhood — I and my companions.'
F.O.G.M
F.O.G MessageThen she said to him, 'Grant me just this one thing — let me go for two months to wander the hills and mourn my virginity with my companions.'
BSB
Berean Standard BibleShe also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”
Footnotes
The Hebrew בְּתוּלַי (*betulai* — 'my virginity' or 'my maidenhood') refers to the state of being unmarried, not yet having known a man. Her grief is not for death itself but for what she will never have: marriage, children, a future within the covenant community. In ancient Israel, to die without descendants was to be erased from memory — the ultimate loss. This singular request ensures the reader understands the full weight of the sacrifice: not merely a life, but a lineage, a legacy, a story never lived. FOG renders 'maidenhood' to capture the social as well as physical dimension; FOG Message uses 'virginity' for directness and emotional force.
