Neville Goddard on Deuteronomy 21:10-14 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Deuteronomy 21 in context

Scripture Focus

10When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,

11And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

12Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

13And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

14And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

Deuteronomy 21:10-14

Biblical Context

The passage describes a process of handling a captured woman with a mourning period and conditions before union or release; in Neville's frame, it mirrors how inner desires are tested before being welcomed.

Neville's Inner Vision

Consider the 'captives' as beliefs or states of consciousness the I AM can meet and decide what to do with. When you 'bring her home,' you invite a quality into your mental house. Shaving her head and clipping nails symbolize shedding old identities or vain appearances that keep a desire framed in ego; removing the raiment of captivity means letting go of the label that attached the trait to a powerless story. The month of bewailing your father and mother stands for a period of inner mourning, the clearing of attachments to prior self-images. Then, if you truly delight in the trait, you integrate it—'go in unto her, and she shall be thy wife' becomes the fact that your inner state has become your living reality. If not, you release her without bargain; you do not merchandise the desire, for you have humbled it, and humility is the door to creative power. In this reading, imagination is the field of action, and choice and mercy govern its use.

Practice This Now

For the next 5–10 minutes, assume the feeling of the trait as already yours and imagine welcoming it into your mental home, letting go of old stories that keep it distant.