And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, take away our reproach.
Rashi
Now seven women shall take hold of one man because of the many widows. take away Heb. אסף [lit., gather in,] hide our reproach, similar to (Deut. 22:2): “And you shall gather it (ואספתו) into your house.” For the woman, when she is married, will not be dealt with licentiously. According to Midrash Aggadah, (Lamentations Rabbah 5:11) Nebuchadnezzar commanded (or decreed upon) [his armies] not to have relations with married women, lest they be punished. They, therefore, begged to be nominally married.
Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.
Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.