Deuteronomy 21:12

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

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 21:12

She shall shave her head - This was in token of her renouncing her religion, and becoming a proselyte to that of the Jews. This is still a custom in the East; when a Christian turns Mohammedan his head is shaven, and he is carried through the city crying, la alahila allah we Mohammed resooli Allah ; "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God." Pare her nails - צפרניה את ועשתה veasethah eth tsipporneyha , "she shall make her nails." Now whether this signifies... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

If an Israelite saw among captives taken in war a woman, fair of aspect, and loved her, and took her to be his wife, he was to allow her a full month to mourn her lost kindred, and become accustomed to her new condition, before he consummated his union with her. This refers to captives from other nations than those of Canaan, with whom the Israelites were to form no alliance, and whom they were not to take captive, but either wholly destroy or render tributary (cf. Deuteronomy 7:3 ; Numbers... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

The female captive; or, Divine regard for woman's safety and honor. Any one who is acquainted with the fearful license practiced among many nations towards female captives taken in war, can surely appreciate the humanizing influence which the injunction in this paragraph was intended to exert. The law here laid down may or may not be abstractly the best; but if it was the best that the people could bear: if it would certainly lift up the people a step higher in their regard for womanly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

Through love to liberty. We have here a regulation or law of war. Captives might be sold as slaves, but through love they might reach the position of a wife in a Jewish household, and if she did not please her conqueror, then she was to be made free again. So that the possible fate of the captive was "through love to liberty." I. LOVE IS THE BEST CURE FOR THE ILLS OF WAR . The men were to be slain: women might be kept as a prey ( Deuteronomy 20:14 ). It was a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

The captor captured. God's laws are accommodations to human infirmities. To require from men summarily, and as the result of law, perfect conduct of life is impracticable. Hence legislation, to be successful, must be adapted to the case, and must lead by gradations to a nobler life. This law, though tolerant of lesser evil, is a marked amelioration of earlier custom—a step towards order and purity. I. FEMALE BEAUTY WINS THE HEARTS EVEN OF WARRIORS . There are other... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:10-15

The captive wife. The kindness, thoughtfulness, and strict justice of the Mosaic laws is very striking. The Law here interposes to secure— I. CONSIDERATE TREATMENT OF ONE BEREAVED . ( Deuteronomy 21:10-14 .) The case supposed comes under the law of Deuteronomy 20:14 . The woman was a captive in war and a heathen, yet the Israelite is required to respect her chastity, and, if he conceive a passion for her, must not only make her his wife in a proper manner, but must allow... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:12

She shall shave her head, and pare her nails. The shaving of the head and the paring of the nails, as well as the putting off of the garments worn when taken captive, were signs of purification, of separation from former heathenism, preparatory to reception among the covenant people of Jehovah (cf. Le Deuteronomy 14:8 ; Numbers 8:7 ). Pare her nails ; literally, make or prepare her nails , i . e . by cutting them down to a proper size and form (cf. 2 Samuel 19:25 , where the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 21:12

The shaving the head (a customary sign of purification, Leviticus 14:8; Numbers 8:7), and the putting away “the garment of her captivity,” were designed to signify the translation of the woman from the state of a pagan and a slave to that of a wife among the covenant-people. Consistency required that she should “pare” (dress, compare 2 Samuel 19:24), not “suffer to grow,” her nails; and thus, so far as possible, lay aside everything belonging to her condition as an alien. read more

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