Israelite 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 cut her nails. These were rituals of purification customary in the ancient Near East.228She received one month to mourn her parents (v. 13). This may presuppose that they had died in the battle or, more likely, that she was to cut off all ties to her former life.229
"Such kindly consideration is in marked contrast with the cruel treatment meted out to women captured in war among the neighboring nations . . ."230
"This legislation could have two basic results: the men would be restrained from rape, and the women would have time to become adjusted to their new condition."231
The provision for divorce (v. 14) receives further clarification later (24:1-4). We should not interpret the fact that God legislated the rights of sons born into polygamous families as tacit approval of that form of marriage. Monogamy was God's will (Gen. 2:24; cf. Matt. 19:4-6).232However, God also gave laws that regulated life when His people lived it in disobedience to His will. In other words, God did not approve of polygamy, but He tolerated it in Israel in the sense that He did not execute or punish polygamists through civil procedures. Similarly He did not approve of divorce, but He allowed it in this case (cf. Gen. 21:8-14; Ezra 9-10).233
God did not feel compelled to comment in Scripture whenever people disobeyed him. That is, He did not always lead the writers of Scripture to identify every sinful practice as such whenever it occurs in the text. This was especially true when the people's sins produced relatively limited consequences. He did comment more on the Israelites' sins that directly involved their relationship to Himself and their sins that affected many other people. This fact reflects God's gracious character (cf. Luke 15:12).
