Deuteronomy 21:11

11 And seest among the captives a beautiful* woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

Deuteronomy 21:11 Meaning and 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, and Maimonides F4; 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.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 Vid. T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 21. 2.
F4 Hilchot Melachim, c. 8. sect. 3.

Deuteronomy 21:11 In-Context

9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
10 When 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,
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.
The King James Version is in the public domain.