What man is there who has pledged to be married to a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 7. Taken her. It was customary to leave the espoused virgin in her father’s house for the space of a year, (during which time, if she proved unfaithful, she was punished like an adulteress. Calmet. 22:23, and so forth) and she could not be given till she was 12 years old. If she were 13 complete, when she was asked in marriage, she was only obliged to wait 30 days. Seld. Uxor. ii. 1. Calmet. 25:5. Philo allows this immunity from war, only to those who had espoused a virgin. They were also freed from paying taxes, mending roads, and so forth Calmet. 29:5. Calmet.—Those who are entangled with worldly cares, are apt to discourage the valiant, and to dissuade fighting, for fear of losing these advantages: much more are those in danger who have to fight for a heavenly kingdom, if they be too much attached to the things of the earth. Worthington. Bible.—“That man who is enslaved to his wife, cannot serve in the warfare of the Lord.” Saint Jerome c. Jov. i.