Deuteronomy 21:12

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Deuteronomy 21:12-13

Deuteronomy 21:12-13. She shall shave her head This was one of the external signs of mourning, Leviticus 19:27; Leviticus 21:5. Shall pare her nails This also seems to have been done in mourning. In the original it is, Shall make her nails, which may be understood of letting her nails grow, which to us seems more suitable to a state of mourning. But this is to be resolved entirely into the fashion of countries. Poole thinks that both of these things were rather to be done in token of... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:1-23

Respect for human life (21:1-23)Murder made the land unclean, and the uncleanness could be removed only by the execution of the murderer (see Numbers 35:29-34). Where the murderer could not be found, the elders of the town nearest the place of the murder had to go to an unpolluted stream nearby and carry out the ritual slaughter of a young cow instead of the unknown murderer. The blood of the cow washed away in the stream symbolized the removal of uncleanness caused by the unlawful bloodshed... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Deuteronomy 21:12

Ver. 12. She shall shave her head, and pare her nails— Shaving the head was one of the external signs of mourning. See Leviticus 19:27; Leviticus 21:15. St. Jerome, and others, however, understand this shaving as a species of purification, and an abjuration of paganism. Paring the nails seems to have been also done in mourning. In the original it is, shall make her nails, which some understand of letting them grow; and this seems to us more suitable to a state of mourning; but the fashion of... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

Limits on a husband’s authority 21:10-14Israelite men could marry women from distant conquered cities taken as prisoners of war (provided they did not already have a wife). Such a woman had to shave her head and trim her nails. These were rituals of purification customary in the ancient Near East. [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 3:406.] She received one month to mourn her parents (Deuteronomy 21:13). This may presuppose that they had died in the battle or, more likely, that she was to cut off all... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Deuteronomy 21:10-21

Wives and children 21:10-21Everything in this section has some connection with the sixth commandment remote though it may be in some cases. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 21:1-23

Expiation of Undetected Homicide. Marriage of Captive Women. Punishment of a Rebellious SonThe last sub-section of the Second Discourse begins here, containing a variety of social and domestic regulations.1-9. The Expiation of Undetected Homicide. The cases of accidental and open, wilful murder have been already provided for in Deuteronomy 19. This passage treats the case of undetected homicide. Murder pollutes the land and must be expiated. When the murderer cannot be discovered the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Deuteronomy 21:10-14

Deuteronomy 21:10-14. MARRIAGE OF CAPTIVE WOMEN.(10, 11) When thou . . . seest among the captives a beautiful woman.—This could not be among the seven nations, of whom it is said (Deuteronomy 20:1-6), “thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.” But it may well apply to the recent case of the Midianitish maidens (Numbers 31:15-18), 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... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 21:1-23

THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF ISRAELITE LIFEIT has often and justly been said that the life of Israel is so entirely founded on the grace and favor of God that no distinction is made between the secular and the religious laws. Whatever their origin may have been, whether they had been part of the tribal constitution before Moses’ day or not, they were all regarded as Divinely given. They had been accepted as fit building stones for the great edifice of that national life in which God was to reveal... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Deuteronomy 21:1-23

17. The Expiation of an Uncertain Murder and Various Instructions CHAPTER 21 1. The expiation of an unknown murder (Deuteronomy 21:1-9 ) 2. Concerning a wife, who had been a prisoner of war (Deuteronomy 21:10-14 ) 3. The right of the firstborn (Deuteronomy 21:15-17 ) 4. The punishment of a rebellious son (Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ) 5. The burial of one who hanged on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:22-23 ) The expiation of an unknown murder seems to find an interesting application in the case of... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Deuteronomy 21:12

21:12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; {d} and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;(d) Signifying that her former life must be changed before she could be joined to the people of God. read more

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