Deuteronomy 21:11-17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

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... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15-17

This law restrains men from disinheriting their eldest sons out of mere caprice, and without just provocation. I. The case here put (Deut. 21:15) is very instructive. 1. It shows the great mischief of having more wives than one, which the law of Moses did not restrain, probably in hopes that men's own experience of the great inconvenience of it in families would at last put an end to it and make them a law to themselves. Observe the supposition here: If a man have two wives, it is a thousand... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:11

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 F3 Vid. T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 21. 2. , and Maimonides F4 Hilchot Melachim, c. 8. sect. 3. ; 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:12

Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house ,.... In order to make her his wife, after some things were done here directed to; for this is not to be understood of his taking her home with a view to defile her, as Maimonides F5 Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 41. interprets it; who observes, that when a man's lust so rages that he cannot subdue it, yet he ought not publicly to satisfy his lust, but to have the woman into a private and secret place, as it is said: thou shalt bring her... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:13

And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her ,.... Her beautiful garments, and gay apparel, in which she was taken captive; and which tended to stir up the stronger affection for her, and greater desire after her; and therefore, as some think, were ordered to be removed, to abate the ardour of love to her. Jarchi observes, that the daughters of the Gentiles used to adorn themselves in war, that they might cause others to commit fornication with them; and another writer before... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:14

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her ;.... Either some time after marriage: then thou shalt let her go whither she will ; by a bill of divorce, as the Targum of Jonathan, who understands it in this sense, and as the connection of the words seems to require; or else before marriage, at the month's end, or any time before, that if his affections cooled towards her, and all the above methods tended to abate his love of her, then he was obliged to dismiss her, or to grant her her... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:15

If a man have two wives ,.... Which is supposed, but not approved of, though permitted because of the hardness of men's hearts; for it was not so from the beginning, when only one man and one woman were created, and joined together in marriage; but as it was connived at, and become customary, a law is made to prevent confusion, and preserve order in families: one beloved and another hated ; or less loved, yet continued his wife, and not divorced. Aben Ezra observes, this follows upon the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:16

Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath ,.... By a will in writing, or byword of mouth, or by a deed of gift, actually bestowing his goods upon them, and dividing among them what he is for the present possessed of; see Luke 15:12 , that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn ; that is, when such is the case, that the son of his wife he has the least value for is really his firstborn,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:17

But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn ,.... Own him and declare him to be so, both by his will and the division of goods by him; or he shall "separate" him, as Onkelos; distinguish him from all his other sons, and make known to all, as the Targum of Jonathan, that he is his firstborn: by giving him a double portion of all that he hath ; or, "that is found with him" F20 אשר ימצא לו "quod inventum fuerit ei", Pagninus, Montanus., ; which he was in the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 21:11

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. read more

Group of Brands