Deuteronomy 21:10-23 - War, War Brides, Disobedient Sons, and Dead Criminals

<p>     In our current section on case laws (Deut 19:1—26:19), we are considering how the nation of ancient Israel was to practice righteous living after they entered the land of Canaan (Deut 16:20), how righteousness was measured by conformity to God’s laws (Deut 6:24-25), and obedience would result in the Lord’s blessings (Deut 11:26-28). In the previous section, Moses set forth a law concerning an unsolved murder, and addressed the responsibilities God placed on the leaders of a nearby city to pronounce their innocence before the Lord (Deut 21:1-9). In the current section, Moses addresses: 1) the just treatment of wives taken in war (Deut 21:10-14), 2) the just treatment of a firstborn son from an unloved wife (Deut 21:15-17), 3) the just treatment of a rebellious son (Deut 21:18-21), and 4) the just treatment of the body of an executed criminal (Deut 21:22-23).</p> <p>     Moses opens this section, saying, “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive…” (Deut 21:10). The Hebrew conjunction כִּי ki, translated when, assumes the reality of future warfare for God’s people. As the Lord’s people engaged the enemy, they were to know that it was their God who was giving them victory. In this passage, Israel’s enemies refer to adversaries outside the land of Canaan (Deut 20:15), as there was the possibility of some taken as captives. This was contrary to the command to kill everyone in Canaan and to leave no one alive (Deut 7:1-3; 20:16-18).</p> <p>     Moses anticipated a situation in which an Israelite warrior would “see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife” (Deut 21:11). Here, the word desire translates the Hebrew verb חָשַׁק chashaq, which means “to be very attached to, to love somebody.”<a href='#_ftn1'>[1]</a> This speaks of the natural desire that a man has for a woman in which he sees her as physically attractive and perhaps as a companion for marriage. When used of