Content area
Full Text
The biblical text of Deuteronomy 21:10-14 deals with the treatment of sexually desirable non-Jewish women who are captured in war. It addresses the sexual privileges of the captors, as well as the legal rights and the process of the socialization into Israelite society of the captives. In light of recent events in Bosnia, the system of behaviours this section of Deuteronomy posits is particularly germane.
This paper will explore some of the attitudes and laws relating to the captive woman which developed in the post-biblical literature, tracing the way in which particular issues are addressed through the various levels of commentary - the Midrashei Halakhah (Sifrei Deuteronomy, Midrash Tannaim, Midrash Hagadol),[1] the Talmudim,[2] and various Targums, commentators and midrashic compilations such as Rashi, Leqah Tov, Toldot Adam, Rabbenu Hillel, Maimonides (Rambam), Nahmanides (Ramban), Yalqut Shimoni and Torah Tmimah.[3] The tapestry of commentaries is numerous, rich and varied; it is beyond the scope of this paper to consider more than a small number of them.
I shall examine in particular the following issues:
1. The nature of the sexual act contempated by Deut. 21: 10-14.
2. The type of war in which it is permissible to take captives.
3a. The possible reasons for and effect of biblical permission to marry a captive woman.
3b. The attitude of the post-biblical sages to this permission.
4. When intercourse may take place.
5. The biblical rituals, their later development by the sages, and the attitude of the sages to these rituals.
6. Was the conversion of the captive woman mandatory or optional, Noahide or Israelite?
7. The rules regulating the release of the captive woman.
8. Can Deuteronomy 21:10-14 be understood as anti-rape legislation?.
1. What is the Nature of the Sexual Act Contemplated in Deut. 21:10-14?
Deut. 21:10-14 provides as follows:
When you go forth to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hands, and you have taken them captive,
And you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her, and take her for a wife -
Then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and do her nails,
And she shall remove the garment of her captivity from her, and...