Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 21:11
And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
11. the captives ] Sam. his.
hast a desire unto her ] Heb. asha, see on Deu 7:7.
and wouldest take her ] So Sam. LXX. Heb. omits her.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. And seest – a beautiful woman] No forcible possession was allowed even in this case, when the woman was taken in war, and was, by the general consent of ancient nations, adjudged as a part of the spoils. The person to whose lot or share such a woman as is here described fell, might, if he chose, have her for a wife on certain conditions; but he was not permitted to use her under any inferior character.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hast a desire unto her; or, hast cleaved to her, to wit, in love; or, hast taken delight in her; which may be a modest expression for lying with her, and seems probable, because it is said, Deu 21:14, that he had humbled her, to wit, by military insolence, when he took her captive, not after he had married her, for then he would have expressed it thus, because thou hast married her, which had been more emphatical than to say, because thou hast humbled her. And here seem to be two cases supposed, and direction given what to do in both of them:
1. That he did desire to marry her, of which he speaks Deu 21:11-13.
2. That he did not desire this, or not delight in her, of which he speaks Deu 21:14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And seest among the captives a beautiful woman,…. Whether a virgin, wife, or widow, according to the Jewish writers, even though another man’s wife; so Jarchi c, and Maimonides d; the marriages of Gentiles being reckoned by the Jews no marriages:
and hast a desire unto her; being captivated with her beauty; some understand this of the strength and rage of lust, but it rather signifies a passionate desire of enjoying her in a lawful way, as follows:
that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; to be married to her in a legal manner; for though it was not allowed the Israelites to marry any of the seven nations of Canaan, nor indeed with any of other nations continuing in their idolatry; yet they might marry such as became their captives and servants, and were wholly in their own power; and especially if proselytes to their religion, and which this fair captive was to become before marriage, as is by some gathered from the following things to be done by her; though after all, this was only a permission, because of the hardness of their hearts, as is said of divorce; and that such marriages were not very grateful to God appears, as some have observed, from the ceremonies used before marriage, to render her contemptible; and the easy dismission of her afterwards, according to the sense of some interpreters.
c Vid. T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 21. 2. d Hilchot Melachim, c. 8. sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Ver. 11. And seest among the captives a beautiful woman The Jewish rabbis have many of them supposed, licentiously enough, that criminal familiarities were first allowed with these women. But Schickard and Grotius have, with great learning, endeavoured, to disprove this opinion; the latter of whom cites these words of Rabbi Bechai: “God would have the camp of the Israelites holy; and not suffer fornication, or other abominations, to be committed in it, as in the camp of the Gentiles.” And at the same time Grotius observes, that the customs of all civilized nations have ever paid a particular respect to the modesty of captive women. Alexander the Great, in the tent of Darius, is a striking example: so that we cannot here understand the indulgence of Moses to extend further, than a simple permission to marry a captive woman, if willing to change her religion; and, indeed, the next verses plainly prove, that a decent time was to be previously allowed her to lament the loss of her country and friends, and prepare for a new connection.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 21:11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
Ver. 11. And hast a desire unto her. ] This was permitted them, as divorce was, ob duricordium. But that is a base passage in the Turk’s Koran, that God did not give men such appetites to have them frustrate, but enjoyed, as made for the gust of man, not for his torment, wherein his Creator delights not; and therefore they hold it lawful for a man to marry as many wives as he is able to maintain.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
desire: Gen 6:2, Gen 12:14, Gen 12:15, Gen 29:18-20, Gen 34:3, Gen 34:8, Jdg 14:2, Jdg 14:3, Pro 6:25, Pro 31:10, Pro 31:30
that: Num 31:18
Reciprocal: Exo 21:8 – who hath Isa 2:6 – and they Dan 11:37 – the desire
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 21:11. And hast a desire unto her Moses here returning to the case of war with the neighbouring nations, directs that, if a Hebrew soldier conceived a peculiar regard for a captive woman, and desired to marry her, he must not do it immediately after she became his prisoner, it being of dangerous consequence for the Israelites to marry Gentile wives. He was first to keep the woman in his house for a month, at least, where she was to live in the retirement and habit of a mourner, for the loss of her parents and her country; as also to give her time to be instructed in the knowledge of the true God and his will, and renounce her idolatrous worship, and to allow him sufficient space to try whether his affection for her was calm and steady, or might cool and wear off. If this interval caused no abatement of his love, but, upon her turning proselyte, he still desired to make her his wife, he might then lawfully do it.