10<\/strong>. When thou goest forth<\/em>, etc.] see on Deu 20:1<\/span>. Read enemy<\/em> (sing.) because of the following: and the Lord thy God delivereth<\/em> him<\/strong> into thine hands<\/em> (see on Deu 1:27<\/span>); and thou takest captives from him<\/strong> (lit. capturest his captives<\/em>).<\/p>\n 10 14. Of Marriage with a Captive of War<\/p>\n If a woman taken in war is desired for a wife (Deu 21:11<\/span> f.), she may be brought home, but the marriage shall not take place till she has shaved her hair, pared her nails, put away her former garments, and mourned her parents for a month (Deu 21:12<\/span> f.). If her husband’s love for her fades he may let her go out free (Deu 21:14<\/span>). In the Sg. address, with no feature incompatible with D’s authorship, and impressed by his spirit both of humanity and of caution against infection by foreign idolatries. Yet in the light of Deu 7:3<\/span>, forbidding marriage with the people of the land, and Deu 20:16<\/span> commanding that in war they shall all be put to death, this law can only refer to captives taken in distant wars, Deu 20:10-15<\/span>. See further general note, introd. to ch. 20. There is no parallel in any other codes.<\/p>\n Mohammed permitted a female captive (though previously married) to become at once the concubine of her captor. But this is not Arab custom. ‘Women are not taken captive in the Arabian warfare, though many times a poor valiant man might come by a fair wife thus without his spending for bride-money’ (Doughty Ar. Des.<\/em> ii. 148).<\/p>\n The regulations which now follow in the rest of this and throughout the next chapter bring out the sanctity of various personal rights and relations fundamental to human life and society.<\/P> Deu 21:10-14<\/span>. The war supposed here is one against the neighboring nations after Israel had utterly destroyed the Canaanites (compare Deu 7:3<\/span>), and taken possession of their land.<\/P> <\/p>\n Thine enemies, <\/B>of other nations, but not of the Canaanites, for they might not spare their women, and much less marry them, Exo 34:16<\/span>; Deu 7:3<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 10-14. When thou goest to war . . .and seest among the captives a beautiful woman . . . that thouwouldest have her to thy wife<\/B>According to the war customs ofall ancient nations, a female captive became the slave of the victor,who had the sole and unchallengeable control of right to her person.Moses improved this existing usage by special regulations on thesubject. He enacted that, in the event that her master was captivatedby her beauty and contemplated a marriage with her, a month should beallowed to elapse, during which her perturbed feelings might becalmed, her mind reconciled to her altered condition, and she mightbewail the loss of her parents, now to her the same as dead. A monthwas the usual period of mourning with the Jews, and the circumstancesmentioned here were the signs of griefthe shaving of the head, theallowing the nails to grow uncut, the putting off her gorgeous dressin which ladies, on the eve of being captured, arrayed themselves tobe the more attractive to their captors. The delay was full ofhumanity and kindness to the female slave, as well as a prudentialmeasure to try the strength of her master’s affections. If his loveshould afterwards cool and he become indifferent to her person, hewas not to lord it over her, neither to sell her in the slave market,nor retain her in a subordinate condition in his house; but she wasto be free to go where her inclinations led her.<\/P><\/p>\n When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies<\/strong>,…. This refers to an arbitrary war, as Jarchi remarks, which they entered into of themselves, of choice, or through being provoked to it by their enemies; and not a war commanded by the Lord, as that against the seven nations of Canaan, and against Amalek; since there were to be no captives in that war, but all were to be destroyed:<\/p>\n and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands<\/strong>; given them the victory over their enemies, so that they were obliged to surrender themselves to them prisoners of war:<\/p>\n and thou hast taken them captive<\/strong>, or “led his or their captivity b captive”; led them captive who used to lead others, denoting their conquest of victorious nations; see a like phrase in Ps 68:18<\/span>.<\/p>\n b “et captivam duxerit captivitatem ejus”, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.<\/p>\n Treatment of a Wife who had been a Prisoner of War. – If an Israelite saw among the captives, who had been brought away in a war against foreign nations, a woman of beautiful figure, and loved her, and took her as his wife, he was to allow her a month’s time in his house, to bewail her separation from her home and kindred, and accustom herself to her new condition of life, before he married her. What is said here does not apply to the wars with the Canaanites, who were to be cut off (vid., Deu 7:3<\/span>), but, as a comparison of the introductory words in Deu 21:1<\/span> with Deu 20:1<\/span> clearly shows, to the wars which Israel would carry on with surrounding nations after the conquest of Canaan. and , the captivity, for the captives.<\/p>\n The Case of Captive Women.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 1451.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD<\/B> thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, 11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; 12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 13 And 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. 14 And 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.<\/P> By this law a soldier is allowed to marry his captive if he pleased. For the hardness of their hearts Moses gave them this permission, lest, if they had not had liberty given them to marry such, they should have taken liberty to defile themselves with them, and by such wickedness the camp would have been troubled. The man is supposed to have a wife already, and to take this wife for a secondary wife, as the Jews called them. This indulgence of men’s inordinate desires, in which their hearts walked after their eyes, is by no means agreeable to the law of Christ, which therefore in this respect, among others, far exceeds in glory the law of Moses. The gospel permits not him that has one wife to take another, for from the beginning it was not so.<\/I> The gospel forbids looking upon a woman, though a beautiful one, to lust after her, and commands the mortifying and denying of all irregular desires, though it be as uneasy as the cutting off of a right hand; so much does our holy religion, more than that of the Jews, advance the honour and support the dominion of the soul over the body, the spirit over the flesh, consonant to the glorious discovery it makes of life and immortality, and the better hope.<\/P> But, though military men were allowed this liberty, yet care is here taken that they should not abuse it, that is,<\/P> I. That they should not abuse themselves by doing it too hastily, though the captive was ever so desirable: “If thou wouldest have her to thy wife<\/I> (Deu 21:10<\/span>; Deu 21:11<\/span>), it is true thou needest not ask her parents’ consent, for she is thy captive, and is at thy disposal. But, 1. Thou shalt have no familiar intercourse till thou hast married her.” This allowance was designed to gratify, not a filthy brutish lust, in the heat and fury of its rebellion against reason and virtue, but an honourable and generous affection to a comely and amiable person, though in distress; therefore he may make her his wife if he will, but he must not deal with her as with a harlot.<\/I> 2. “Thou shalt not marry her of a sudden, but keep her a full month in thy house,” Deu 21:12<\/span>; Deu 21:13<\/span>. This he must do either, (1.) That he may try to take his affection off from her; for he must know that, though in marrying her he does not do ill (so the law then stood), yet in letting her alone he does much better. Let her therefore shave her head, that he might not be enamoured with her locks, and let her nails grow<\/I> (so the margin reads it), to spoil the beauty of her hand. Quisquid amas cupias non placuisse nimis–We should moderate our affection for those things which we are tempted to love inordinately.<\/I> Or rather, (2.) This was done in token of her renouncing idolatry, and becoming a proselyte to the Jewish religion. The shaving of her head, the paring of her nails, and the changing of her apparel, signified her putting off her former conversation, which was corrupt in her ignorance, that she might become a new creature. She must remain in his house to be taught the good knowledge of the Lord and the worship of him: and the Jews say that if she refused, and continued obstinate in idolatry, he must not marry her. Note, The professors of religion must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, 2 Cor. vi. 14<\/span>.<\/P> II. That they should not abuse the poor captive. 1. She must have time to bewail her father and mother,<\/I> from whom she was separated, and without whose consent and blessing she is now likely to be married, and perhaps to a common soldier of Israel, though in her country ever so nobly born and bred. To force a marriage till these sorrows were digested, and in some measure got over, and she was better reconciled to the land of her captivity by being better acquainted with it, would be very unkind. She must not bewail her idols, but be glad to part with them; to her near and dear relations only her affection must be thus indulged. 2. If, upon second thoughts, he that had brought her to his house with a purpose to marry her changed his mind and would not marry her, he might not make merchandise of her, as of his other prisoners, but must give her liberty to return, if she pleased, to her own country, because he had humbled her and afflicted her, by raising expectations and then disappointing them (v.<\/I><\/span> 14<\/span>); having made a fool of her, he might not make a prey of her. This intimates how binding the laws of justice and honour are, particularly in the pretensions of love, the courting of affections, and the promises of marriage, which are to be looked upon as solemn things, that have something sacred in them, and therefore are not to be jested with.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verses 10-14:<\/strong><\/p>\n It was not uncommon for a victorious soldier to take a wife from among the women of a captured city or country. God regulated this practice, by giving the statute in this text.<\/p>\n First, the captive woman was to shave her head and pare (trim) her nails. This was a token of her purification from idolatry. She was to put away the garments she wore when taken captive, in order to put on a garment of mourning. Then, she was to be allowed one month, in which to mourn the loss of her parents, or her native land.<\/p>\n Later, if for some reason the man found he no longer had pleasure in the captive woman, he could send her away wherever she chose to go. But he must not sell her as a slave.<\/p>\n This provision applied to captives from a distant city, Deu 20:13-14<\/span>. It did not apply to the Canaanites, who were to be utterly destroyed.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 10. When thou goest forth to war. The same thing is now commanded respecting wives as above respecting meats. As regarded the Canaanites, who were destined and devoted to destruction, we have seen that the Israelites were prohibited from taking their women to wife, lest this connection should be an enticement to sin; but Moses now goes further, viz., that the Israelites, having obtained a victory over other nations, should not marry any of the captive women, unless purified by a solemn rite. This, then, is the sum, that the Israelites should not defile themselves by profane marriages, but in this point also should keep themselves pure and uncorrupt, because they were separated from other people, to be the peculiar people of God. It was better, indeed, that they should altogether abstain from such marriages; yet it was difficult so to restrain their lust as that they should not decline from chastity in the least, degree; and hence we learn how much license conquerors allow themselves in war, so that there is no room for perfect purity in them. Wherefore God so tempers His indulgence as that the Israelites, remembering the adoption wherewith He had honored them, should not disgrace themselves, but in the very fervor of their lust should retain some religious affection. But the question here is not of unlawful ravishment, but Moses only speaks of women who have been made captives by the right of war, for we know that conquerors have abused them with impunity, because they had them under their power and dominion. But since many are led astray by the blandishments of their wives, God applies a remedy, viz., that the abjuration of their former life should precede their marriage; and that none should be allowed to marry a foreign wife until she shall have first renounced her own nation. To this refers the ceremony, that the woman should shave her head, and cut her nails, and change her garments, and lament her father and her family for an entire month, viz., that she may renounce her former life, and pass over to another people. Some of the rabbins twist the words to a different meaning, as if God would extinguish love in the minds of the husbands by disfiguring the women; for the shaving of the head greatly detracts from female beauty and elegance; and “to make the nails,” for so the words literally mean, they understand as to let them grow; and the prolongation of the nails has a disgusting appearance. But their gloss is refuted by the context, in which she is commanded to put off the raiment of her captivity.: But I have no doubt but that their month of mourning, their shaven head, and the other signs, are intended by God for their renewal, so that they may accustom themselves to different habits. And with the same object they are commanded to bewail their parents as if dead, that they may bid farewell to their own people. To this the Prophet seems to allude in Psa 45:10<\/span>, when he says, “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;” for he intimates that otherwise the marriage of a foreign woman with Solomon would not be pure and legitimate, unless she should relinquish her superstitions, and devote herself to God’s service. Nor was it needless that God should require the Israelites diligently to beware lest they should take wives as yet aliens from the study of true religion, since experience most abundantly shows how fatal a snare it is. But although we are not now bound to this observance, yet the rule still holds good that men should not rashly ally themselves with women still devoted to wicked superstitions. (51) <\/p>\n (51) Addition in Fr., “ Pour s’envelopper en leur impiete.” <\/p>\n (6) MARRYING WOMEN CAPTIVES (Deu. 21:10-14<\/span>)<\/p>\n 10 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou carriest them away captive, 11 and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife; 12 then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 13 and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy 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. 14 And 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 deal with her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.<\/p>\n THOUGHT QUESTIONS 21:1014<\/p>\n 344.<\/p>\n How sad to be defeated when God planned victory. The lack of conquest was not because God had not already assured triumph. Why then was Israel not victorious?<\/p>\n 345.<\/p>\n Why would a pagan woman from a distance city be any more qualified for a wife than one from Canaan?<\/p>\n 346.<\/p>\n Why the shaving of the hair, paring nails, putting off raiment of captivity?<\/p>\n 347.<\/p>\n Show the protection and honor accorded these women. Why so?<\/p>\n 348.<\/p>\n Careful provision was made for the proper attitude in marriage. Discuss this as of today.<\/p>\n AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 21:1014<\/p>\n 10 When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God has given them into your hands, and you carry them away captive, COMMENT 21:1014<\/p>\n As in the case of the coming appointment of kings (Deu. 17:14-17<\/span>), this law is made as a provision, because of the foreknowledge of God. It is made in condescension to (not endorsement of) the weakness of menand, incidentally, for the protection and honor of women.<\/p>\n This passage does not concern Canaanite cities, where thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth (Deu. 20:16<\/span>), but distant cities where the males were either killed or taken as slaves, and the women and little ones taken as prey (Deu. 20:10-15<\/span>). No alliances or marriages were to be made with Canaanite women.<\/p>\n A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN (Deu. 21:11<\/span>)The word beautiful is a translation of two Hebrew words yephath, beautiful, bright, fair, and toar, dilineation, form, body. Thus, literally, beautiful of form. It is used of Rachel in Gen. 29:17<\/span>, where Clarke says of the word, beautiful in her shape, person, mien, and gait. In this trait, as well as being well favored (yephath mareh) she stood in contrast to Leah.<\/p>\n We would, of course, seriously question a mans wisdom who would choose his lifes partner on such a superficial basis, with little or no chance to consider whether she was beautiful in character. We would wonder whether this love at first sight was not ninety per cent infatuation! We are tempted to warn him (as Solomon warned the young man of the seductress), Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; Neither let her take thee with her eyelids (Pro. 6:25<\/span>). We would appeal to him on the basis of the overwhelming marital difficulties of taking a non-Israelite to wifeone who probably knew little or nothing of serving Jehovah God. Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised (Pro. 31:30<\/span>).<\/p>\n But regardless of all this, God provides what shall be done when such a one is taken. The question here is not what he should have done, but what he should now do.<\/p>\n SHE SHALL SHAVE HER HEAD, AND PARE HER NAILS (Deu. 21:12<\/span>)Both of these ceremonies, as well as the putting off of the garments worn when she was taken captive (Deu. 21:13<\/span>), were signs of purification, separating her from her former heathenism, and preparing her for becoming a part of the people of God. Compare the law of the leper, Lev. 14:8<\/span>, and the cleansing of the Levites, Num. 8:6-7<\/span>. Shaving the head was also a sign of mourning, Job. 1:20<\/span>, etc.<\/p>\n PUT THE RAIMENT OF HER CAPTIVITY FROM OFF HER (Deu. 21:13<\/span>)the putting off her gorgeous dress in which ladies, on the eve of being captured arrayed themselves to be the more attractive to their captors. (J.F.B.) She then dons the garments of mourning and bewails her father and mother (who were now to her the same as dead) for thirty days. This period would also give her a chance to pull herself together, adjust to her new condition, and otherwise prepare herself for her new life-role.<\/p>\n More and more now, her husband is to see her as she really is. IF THOU HAVE NO DELIGHT IN HER (Deu. 21:14<\/span>)This is after the marriage (Deu. 21:13<\/span>). In the Hebrew home, the husband was unconditionally and unreservedly the head of his wife and family in all domestic relations. Nowhere is this headship more obvious than in his right to divorce. He might, under certain circumstances, divorce his wifebut it was much more difficult for her to reverse the procedure. And in view of her position here as captive, she would have even less ability to claim her rights in marriage. See Num. 5:12-31<\/span>, Duet. Deu. 22:13-21<\/span>, and particularly in connection with this passage, Deu. 24:1-4<\/span>.<\/p>\n If he was displeased with her, however, he could not retain her in some subordinate or inferior capacity.<\/p>\n THOU SHALT NOT DEAL WITH HER AS A SLAVE (Deu. 21:14<\/span>)The Hebrew word amar, tendered here by five English words, signifies To show self a tyrant (Young), deal violently, tyranically with (Baumgartner). It occurs again in Deu. 24:7<\/span>, where it is again rendered as a slave. She had, in fact, become his wife, and she was not now to be dealt with as if she had only been a captive servant (Deu. 20:14<\/span>), She was to be free to go where her inclinations led.<\/p>\n Deu. 21:10-14<\/span>. MARRIAGE OF CAPTIVE WOMEN.<\/strong><\/p>\n (10, 11) When thou . . . seest among the captives a beautiful woman.<\/strong>This could not be among the seven nations, of whom it is said (Deu. 20:1-6<\/span>), thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth. But it may well apply to the recent case of the Midianitish maidens (Num. 31:15-18<\/span>), who had been taken captive in great numbers, and would naturally be reduced to slavery. It is clear from this passage that they could not be treated as concubines.<\/p>\n (12) Shall shave her head, and pare her nails.<\/strong>Rashis view is that the object of this order is to spoil the beauty of the captive. The long hair is to be cut off, and the nails pared. On this last point the Targums differ; one taking the view that they are to be left to grow and the other the opposite interpretation. In 2Sa. 19:24<\/span>, there are two examples of the use of the word in the sense of attending to the person. The correct interpretation in this place depends upon the purpose for which the thing was to be done. If the intention was any kind of purification, and long or taper nails were considered an ornament (as by some Eastern nations), it is more probable that the nails were to be cut short.<\/p>\n (13) The raiment of her captivity.<\/strong>Rashi takes this to mean the beautiful raiment put on for the purpose of attracting her captors. (Compare Jezebels attempt to captivate Jehu, 2Ki. 9:30<\/span>.) Whatever may be the precise intent of these several instructions, it is clear that the law is intended to encourage lawful marriage, and no other form of union. In this view it throws an important light upon the treatment of the Midianitish captives in Numbers 31<\/span><\/p>\n (14) Thou shalt not make merchandise of her.<\/strong>This shows that, in ordinary cases, these captives would be sold as slaves, without the restrictions imposed on Israelitish slavery. (See Lev. 25:44-46<\/span>.)<\/p>\n DIRECTIONS RESPECTING FEMALE WAR-CAPTIVES, Deu 21:10-14<\/span>.<\/p>\n The directions that follow must refer to captives that might be taken in war with the neighbouring nations after the Canaanites have been extirpated. The law was designed for the protection of the female captive, and was far in advance of the usages of the other nations of antiquity.<\/p>\n IV. FURTHER REGULATIONS CENTRAL TO THE MAINTENANCE OF SOCIETY AND THE MAINTENANCE OF FAMILY UNITY ( Deu 21:10-23<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/strong> <\/p>\n The remainder of Deuteronomy 21<\/span> deals with what is to happen in certain cases concerning close relatives. Its stress is on the maintenance of family life in harmony, and on the honour to be shown to different members of the family. <\/p>\n The contents of Deuteronomy 21<\/span> also connects with Deu 20:14<\/span> in that it deals in Deu 21:10-14<\/span> with how to deal with women captives who are taken in marriage by Israelites, something which would be commonly happening. <\/p>\n The protection of family honour and harmony covers the following aspects: <\/p>\n 1). Treatment of women captives who are viewed as desirable (Deu 21:10-14<\/span>). <\/p>\n 2). The attitude towards the wife in verses 10-14 then leads on into another case of an unloved wife, which deals with the rights of inheritance of the firstborn (Deu 21:15-17<\/span>). <\/p>\n 3). This then leads on to establishing the principle of the authority of father and mother, and the treatment of a violently rebellious son (Deu 21:18-21<\/span>). <\/p>\n All these three regulations seek to deal with the disruption of family life, the first dealing with fairness towards captives who are brought into the family, the latter two dealing with matters at the very heart of society’s welfare, inheritance rights and the maintenance of authority. <\/p>\n The chapter closes with a brief reference to dealing with those who behave in such a way as to deserve sentence of death (Deu 21:22-23<\/span>). This harks back to the rebellious son (Deu 21:18-21<\/span>), and to what should happen to the murderer in Deu 21:1-9<\/span> if he was ever found. <\/p>\n Treatment Of Women Captives Brought Into The Family ( Deu 21:10-14<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/strong> <\/p>\n This follows on from Deu 20:14<\/span> and gives instructions with regard to particular women captives who have been brought back to Israel. Similar situations would probably already have been met up with after earlier conflicts. Where one of these women captives was desired by an Israelite as a wife (her husband would be dead, having been slain after the siege, or in battle) he must not just callously take her and marry her. Certain consideration must first be given to the woman. <\/p>\n Analysis using the words of Moses. <\/p>\n a <\/strong> When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands, and you carry them away captive, and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have a desire for her, and would take her to you for wife (Deu 21:10-11<\/span>). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> Then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails, and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her (Deu 21:12-13<\/span> a). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> And she shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month, and after that you shall go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife (Deu 21:13<\/span> b). <\/p>\n a <\/strong> And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her at all for money, you shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her (Deu 21:14<\/span>). <\/p>\n Note that in ‘a’ the man has a desire for the woman and takes steps to take her for his wife, then in the parallel if he then have no delight in her he must let her go free. In ‘b’ he brings her home to his house, and she shaves her head, and pares her nails, and puts the raiment of her captivity from off her, and in the parallel she remains in his house, and bewails her father and her mother a full month, and after that he can go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be his wife (Deu 21:13<\/span> b) <\/p>\n Deu 21:10-13<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands, and you carry them away captive, and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have a desire for her, and would take her to you for wife, then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails, and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month, and after that you shall go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.’ <\/p>\n This might of course apply to any battle, not just a siege, and it is clear that it does not refer to Canaanites. In the constant conflicts this could often happen in those days. Especially with a wandering people like the Israelites such battles and such captives would have been fairly common, partly as a result of skirmishes with desert tribes. It would equally happen in the future because of warfare with belligerent neighbours. But the stress here is on the treatment of a woman captive whom an Israelite desires for himself. She must be brought to the family residence of the man who wished to marry her, then she must shave her head and pare her nails, and get rid of the clothes in which she came. After which she was to be given a month for mourning her family. (They may not have been dead, just lost for ever). Once that was over the marriage could then take place. <\/p>\n The shaving of her head and the paring of her nails possibly refers to the removal from her extremities (head and hand and foot) of all connections with the old life (compare Lev 14:14<\/span>). The hair and the nails were also the parts of a woman that could grow long and enhance her beauty. Thus the cutting may have symbolised the end of her old pagan beauty and the growth of a new beauty now that she was an Israelite. Or the purpose may have been to make her ritually clean (compare Lev 14:8<\/span>; Lev 14:14<\/span>; Num 8:7<\/span>). She would now be expected to become a member of the covenant. The changing of her clothes implied something similar. She was now an Israelite and to be brought within the covenant. She must put off the clothes which distinguished her background and dress like an Israelite woman from now on. The mourning period, which was a standard period of mourning in Israel (see Deu 34:8<\/span>; Num 20:29<\/span>), was out of consideration for her feelings. She would have had little chance to mourn while captive, but once the month was over she would be expected to forget her old life. On marriage she would now be a free Israelite woman. <\/p>\n Deu 21:14<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her at all for money, you shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her.’ <\/p>\n The question here is as to what is intended. On the face of it, it is the alternative to marriage. He has had a month to think it over and he is now not convinced that he wants to go ahead with marriage. His attachment has worn off and he no longer has any delight in her, which may also be explained by her reaction to the situation which has made him recognise that it bodes ill for the future. But all have been living in expectation of the marriage. She is being shamed. By sending her away he is humbling her. Thus as compensation he must not sell her, or deal with her as a slave. She must be sent away as a free woman, the position she would have held if he had married her. <\/p>\n Others, however, see the situation as signifying a marriage, made in haste, which has turned out to be a disaster. He had discovered that a beautiful woman did not necessarily make a good wife, especially if she had foreign tastes, and foreign habits. Furthermore she had been given little choice in the matter, and might well have been feeling angry and bitter, or have been traumatised. She might well have been behaving like a shrew. The man might have discovered that he found little delight in his marriage. This may even signify that she had refused him his conjugal rights. <\/p>\n It is clear that both wished the arrangement to end and in these circumstances he could ‘let her go’ presumably by divorcing her (see Deu 24:1<\/span>). She must then be allowed to go where she wished for the marriage had made her a free woman, which might well be back to her own country (compare for all this Exo 21:8-11<\/span>). He must not try to sell her as a slave, or treat her as such, because he had ‘humbled her’. This may simply refer to having put her in her difficult position, or of having ‘forced’ her to marry him, or because he has had intercourse with her on equal terms, or to the fact that divorce was necessarily usually looked on as a humbling experience for the woman. Whichever way it was he must not try to take any further advantage of her. <\/p>\n Just as he had been freed from slavery by the deliverance from Egypt, so he had to set her free from slavery. Having given her hope for the future it would not be just to restore her to her former condition when she was a captive. She now shared in the deliverance from Egypt. <\/p>\n But this latter case is only a possibility if divorce was so easily obtained. If Deu 24:1<\/span> actually indicates that divorce was only available for serious misdemeanours it could not apply in all cases of women captors who proved a disappointment. And there is actually no mention here of a divorce or a bill of divorcement. <\/p>\n One lesson for us from this example is the importance of giving people who have been good to us their due. The woman had done right by him. He must do right by her. <\/p>\n Excursus: Should Israel Have Had Any Part In Such Slavery?<\/strong> <\/p>\n We must keep in mind that a part purpose of the Law was to control life as it was already lived, to control what already actually took place, so as to ensure fair treatment for the weaker party. The receiving of slaves and treating them as slave wives was universal practise. Conditions of the day rendered it inevitable. Both war and extreme poverty resulted in there being a certain quantity of people for whom there was little practical alternative. The only alternative was their being killed off or left to die. No nation could offer open house for all. They would never have survived. And we must not think in terms of modern slavery. Slavery was then an economic means by which the helpless and dispossessed could obtain food and shelter in return for service. <\/p>\n We know from the time of Abraham that Hagar was an Egyptian, and that his steward was possibly a Damascene. In Israel the permanent slave was required to enter into the covenant. They had no right to retain their own religion. They had to became an integral part of the covenant community. Thus there was little danger of their leading their masters and husbands astray. It is a fact of life that had such marriages not been allowed then particularly desirable women would simply have been ravaged. It was in order to protect against this that this law was introduced. We could say ‘for the hardness off your heart Moses gave you this law’ as Jesus said about the law relating to divorce. <\/p>\n Divorce was allowed in Israel, in so far as it was allowed, simply because, had it not been, worse things would have occurred. It was not God’s will. As Jesus said it was His concession to man’s weakness and the need to protect the weaker party. Without divorce a woman may have been cast off with no hope of any future marriage. If the case we have been looking at was a case of divorce, without the provision made here a slave wife might simply have been got rid of in one way or another. By having regulation it ensured right treatment. God had to take into account man’s tendencies for these laws were intended to be practically applied and He knew that the people were not perfect. Impractical laws would simply have led to infamous behaviour and the suffering and death of the weak. <\/p>\n But if this was so, and people could so be integrated into society, why was this option not given to Canaanite women? <\/p>\n There was a twofold difference between Canaanite women and other women. Firstly was the fact that the Canaanites were especially corrupt with their particular debased religion. They were like a cancer which had to be totally eradicated. They had sinned so greatly that God had determined final judgment on them. They had to be ‘devoted’ to God (compare Joshua 7<\/span>). They were under The Ban. Like all the goods in Jericho they were Yahweh’s. There were to be no exceptions. This principle was fixed in the Israelite mind without exception, without compromise. God had determined final judgment on all Canaanites. It was to be Israel’s privilege to act as the judgment of God on them. If we question God’s right to so judge it may be that it is we who do not really understand either God or the final demands of righteousness. <\/p>\n As we know, in the event they did not follow God’s command which was a large part of the reason for their continued failure before God. The cancer of the Canaanites actually destroyed the nation of Israel. When man thinks that he knows better than God it usually ends in disaster. <\/p>\n Secondly there is a great deal of difference between someone who has been uprooted from their environment, with the result that, finding themselves in a totally new land with nothing to remind them of the past and with no chance of returning to the old land, they can be exorcised from their old religion, as compared with someone who was constantly surrounded by their old environment, to whom every high hill, every high place, every green tree constantly kept alive in their hearts the old ideas and became a means by which they could tempt men into misbehaviour and idolatry. That scourge had to be fully eradicated. God knew the hearts of men. <\/p>\n Furthermore every Canaanitish woman absorbed into Israel would have been a magnet to neighbouring Canaanites inciting them to smite the Israelites so as to free their own. They would have caused constant conflict. And even worse the old behaviour had probably introduced into, and multiplied in the Canaanites, certain sexual diseases that could easily be passed on. God wanted to keep His people as free from these diseases as possible. We can compare how in our modern society free sex has resulted in a multiplicity of sexually transmitted diseases in many countries. But in those days there were no cures for such things. These are just a few reasons why Canaanite women alone were to be treated as untouchables. <\/p>\n (End of Excursus.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/strong> The Law of Captive Women<\/p>\n v. 10. When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies,<\/strong> those outside of Canaan, Deu 20:13-18<\/span>, and the Lord, thy God, hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,<\/strong> <\/p>\n v. 11. and seest among the captives a beautiful,<\/strong> well-formed woman, and hast a desire unto her,<\/strong> said of the love which desires union in lawful marriage, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife,<\/strong> <\/p>\n v. 12. then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails,<\/strong> that is, cut them, keep them trimmed, 2Sa 19:24<\/span>; <\/p>\n v. 13. and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her,<\/strong> all these acts being in the nature of purifying rites, Lev 14:8<\/span>; Num 8:7<\/span>, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month,<\/strong> that is, her separation from them; and after that thou shalt go in unto her,<\/strong> in the relation peculiar to marriage, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. <\/strong> During this month the woman would have time even inwardly to detach herself from her previous relations and to adjust herself to the idea of joining the people of God, if possible, to be filled with genuine affection for the God of Israel and also for the man, whose action in declaring his readiness to marry her had saved her from the position and lot of a slave. <\/p>\n v. 14. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her,<\/strong> after the marriage had thus taken place, then thou shalt let her go whither she will,<\/strong> as a free woman, with the rights of an Israelitess; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money,<\/strong> such a procedure was not to be thought of, thou shalt not make merchandise of her,<\/strong> not attempt a violent treatment of her by selling her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her,<\/strong> in making use of the right of a husband. This was a humane, merciful provision, intended to protect the dignity of the woman and the sanctity of marriage. <\/p>\n The Seventh Commandment<\/strong><\/p>\n Deu 21:10-23<\/span><\/p>\n 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 [holdest] a desire; unto her, that thou wouldest have [and takest] her to thy wife; 12Then thou shalt bring [And bringest] her home to thine house, and [so] she shall shave her head, and pare 13[make, make right] her nails: And 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 [so many days]: 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 [more] in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will [go after her soul, desire]; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money; thou shalt not make merchandise of her [treat her harshly], because thou hast humbled her. 15If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have borne him children [sons], both<\/em> the beloved and the hated; and if<\/em> the first-born son be hers that was hated: 16Then it shall be, when [at the day] he maketh his sons to inherit that<\/em> which he hath, that<\/em> he may [see, Deu 7:22<\/span>; Deu 12:17<\/span>] not make the son of the beloved first-born, before the son of the hated, which is indeed<\/em> [om. which is indeed<\/em>] the first-born: 17But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for<\/em> [om. for<\/em>] the first-born, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath [all that is found with him]: for he is<\/em> the beginning 18[firstling] of his strength; the right of the first-born is<\/em> his. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that<\/em>, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 19Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is<\/em> stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is<\/em> a glutton [spendthrift] and a drunkard. 21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou [and thou shalt] put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. 22And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is<\/em> accursed of God [the curse of God];) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for<\/em> an inheritance.<\/p>\n EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Deu 21:10-14<\/span>. Moses comes first to speak of the seventh command, its explanation and application, as after the possession of Canaan, thus entirely as Deu 20:1<\/span>, and consequently with reference to enemies not Canaanites (Deu 7:3<\/span>), from whom an Israelite might take himself a wife. Deu 21:10<\/span> (Deu 20:13<\/span>). and (Deu 21:11<\/span>), Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
11 And you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her, that you may have her as your wife,
12 Then you shall bring her home to your house; and she shall shave her head and pare her nails [in purification from heathenism],
13 And put off her prisoners garb and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
14 And if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go absolutely free; you shall not sell her at all for money, you shall not deal with her as a slave or a servant, because you have humbled her.<\/p>\n
It is well to observe the protection afforded womanhood here. By general consent in ancient times, the women were considered part of the spoils of war, and even in modern times this has often been true. Any one acquainted with the fearful license practiced among many nations towards female captives taken in war, can surely appreciate the humanizing influence these verses were intended to exert. A woman captive was not to be a plaything of passion or lust, but was to be dealt with honorably and with dignity. The requirements of this passage stand in sharp contrast to the conduct common among soldiers who have devastated a foreign power, and whose women are at their mercy.<\/p>\nFuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n