Commento su Deuteronomio 21:10

כי תצא למלחמה WHEN THOU GOEST FORTH TO WAR — Scripture is speaking here of a war that is not obligatory upon the Israelites (Sifrei Devarim 211:1), for in regard to a war that was waged against the inhabitants of Erez Israel, Scripture could not possibly say, “and thou hast captured captives”, since it has already been stated regarding them, (Deuteronomy 20:16) “[But of the cities of those people ...] you shall not allow any soul to live”.

כי תצא למלחמה על איביך, When you go to war against your enemies, etc. Why did the Torah need to write this whole introduction when it would have sufficed to write: "when you see an attractive woman amongst the prisoners, etc." The whole of verse one seems extraneous to the subject matter under discussion! Furthermore, seeing the Torah did decide to write: "when you go out to war against your enemies, etc.," why did we need the words "against your enemies?" Against whom does one go to war if not against one's enemies? Perhaps the reason is to be found in halachic relaxations which apply to troops in wartime. A woman such as the attractive woman prisoner mentioned here would be totally out of bounds if not for the fact that she was captured in war; the same applies to other relaxations of the halachah such as the prohibition of eating the hind parts of a pig, etc, (compare Chulin 17). This gave rise to the Torah using a different style in this instance. Seeing that the Jewish soldier was aware of the halachic relaxations which are applicable even to Torah law under conditions of war, the Torah was concerned lest some of the soldiers would actually look forward to the battle in order to avail themselves of these relaxations of Torah law. The Torah was keenly aware of this and reminded the soldier that when he goes to war his only purpose should be to avenge himself on the enemies of the Jewish people, not in order to have an excuse to indulge in things which are normally forbidden. The words כי תצא, "when you go out," are a reminder that although you depart from the normal rules of halachic restrictions when your life is at stake, למלחמה, your mind must concentrate only on the war, on the battle, not on what you consider the fringe benefits. The reason the Torah adds the words על איביך, "against your enemies," is to remind you that your enemies are G'd's enemies as we have been told by David in Psalms 139,21: "O Lord, You know I hate those who hate You, and I loathe Your adversaries." Your entire reason for going to war must be for this sole purpose. If that will be the case, then the Torah's assurance: "and the Lord your G'd will deliver them into your hand" will be fulfilled. From our verse (verse 1) you may deduce therefore that unless your motivation is the one the Torah expects of you, your success will not be assured.

כי תצא, beyond the boundaries of your land.

כי תצא למלחמה, “When you will go out to war;” according to the plain meaning of the text, Moses advises the people that instead of waiting till the enemy invades their land that they should pre-empt him and meet him beyond their borders to avoid part of their land becoming destroyed.

For with regard to the war for Eretz Yisroel it would be inappropriate to say “and you capture prisoners from them,” etc. You might ask: Perhaps Scripture’s subject is the warfare of Eretz Yisroel, and when it writes, “And you capture prisoners from them,” it refers to a case where there were [people] from nations other than the seven nations inside [the town]. The answer is that Rashi himself answers this question when he explains afterwards: “And you capture prisoners from them,” this includes the Canaanites among them, although they are members of the seven nations. This implies that we always go according to the people of the town. For here if the people of the town are from other nations, one is also permitted to keep alive the Canaanites inside it. And the same applies if the citizens of the town are of the seven nations, one is not permitted to keep alive [people from] other nations inside it. Therefore if the verse is speaking of warfare of Eretz Yisroel, Scripture would not write “and you capture prisoners from them,” because you would not be able to say that it refers to [people from] other nations inside it, since it is forbidden to keep alive even [people from] other nations that are inside it as we explained. (I found this in the name of Maharitz). Re”m answers that since the main point of the parsha is to permit the “beautifully formed woman,” it would only permit her in optional warfare where all women are permitted [to be kept alive], and not in obligatory warfare where the prohibition of “You are not to leave any person alive (above 20:16)” applies to every woman except the one that he captured [who] is of other nations. And perhaps he will not capture her, and even if he does capture her it would be a very rare possibility.

V. 10. Der Abschnitt שופטים hatte vorzugsweise die Ordnung allgemeiner Angelegenheiten der Gesamtheit zum Gegenstande, deren Konstituierung zunächst durch die bevorstehende staatliche Niederlassung im Lande gefordert war. Der Abschnitt כי תצא bringt nun noch eine Anzahl Gesetzesgruppen, die zunächst die Regelung von Privatverhältnissen des Familien- und Verkehrslebens im Auge haben, wo der nun bevorstehende Eintritt in die Dezentralisation und die natürliche Anbürgerung Veranlassuug zu Ausschreitungen gewähren, und darum auch solche Vorschriften in ihrer ganz besonderen Bedeutsamkeit hervortreten lassen, welche den Geist der Gesetzesachtung, des Rechts und der Liebe und der Sittenheiligung dem sich selbst überlassenen einzelnen bei allen seinen Unternehmungen zu beleben geeignet sind. Insbesondere tritt das Familienleben, das Verhalten der Geschlechter zu einander, das Gattenleben, das Verhältnis der Eltern zu den Kindern, sowie der Kinder zu den Eltern in den Vordergrund. Ist es doch eben das Familienleben, für welches einerseits durch die Nähe anwohnender Bevölkerungen manche Trübung zu erwarten war, andererseits ging das Familienleben seiner vollen Verwirklichung, insbesondere nach der bürgerlichen Seite hin, erst mit dem Augenblick entgegen, wo die Familienexistenz aus den Händen einer unmittelbar göttlichen Fürsorge in die Hand des sein Weib und Kind ernährenden Familienvaters überging. An der Spitze dieser Gesetzesgruppen steht ein Problem, das, ähnlich wie an der Spitze der konstituierenden Rechtsordnungen, an den Problemen des Verbrechers und des ärmsten Mädchens (Schmot 21. 2 u. 7) das Personen- und Gattenrecht gelehrt wird, also an der Behandlung einer Kriegsgefangenen die geschlechtliche Heiligkeit eines weiblichen Wesens der männlichen Leidenschaft gegenüber proklamiert und vor leichtfertigem Missbrauch sicher stellt. So ward Kap. 20, 19 f. das allgemeine לא תשחית-Verbot jeglicher zwecklosen Zerstörung und wird Kap. 23, 10 f. das allgemeine Gebot keuscher Schamhaftigkeit in Worten und Handlungen, ולא יראה בך ערות דבר ,ונשמרת מכל דבר רע, an dem Problem von Kriegszuständen gelehrt, in welchen Zerstörungslust und sittliche Ungebundenheit sich einen Freibrief auszustellen pflegen. Was in allen diesen Problemen den jüdischen Gewissen selbst für Ausnahmszustände zur Pflicht gemacht wird, gilt selbstverständlich in noch höherem Maße für die Zustände des normalen Lebens.

ושבית שביו, “and you take back some captives.” According to Rashi, this includes Canaanites that were in that land or city; [in spite of the commandment not to allow any Canaanite to survive, as per Deut. 20,6. Ed.] If you were to wonder how this could be, remember that the Torah speaks of an expansionary war, outside the borders of what used to be the Canaanite land that was promised by G–d to Avraham. If the prisoner had been captured outside those boundaries, the fact that she is now brought back to what used to be the land of Canaan does not make her subject to the commandment stated in Deut. 20,16.

כי תצא, “when you go forth;” the introductory words of this paragraph are intended to teach that what follows are rules that apply only outside the boundaries of the Holy Land, and that they are not comparable to those that apply in the Holy land. The paragraphs that we have read prior to this, generally applied to conduct of Israelites in the Land of Israel.

ושבית שביו AND THOU HAST CAPTURED CAPTIVES — These apparently redundant words are intended to include Canaanite people living in it (in a city outside Canaan), that it is allowed to capture them although they belong to the seven nations (Sifrei Devarim 211:4; Sotah 35b).

This includes the Canaanites among them, etc. And their wives and children are saved like them. Otherwise, why is [the apparently superfluous word] שביו necessary. See the verse above in parshas Shoftim (20:11), “All the people found in it.”

ושבית שביו, "and you take a prisoner." This is a commandment, as otherwise you create the impression that you belittle gifts G'd gives you. Alternatively, the Torah emphasises the negative when writing the positive, i.e. you are forbidden to marry such an attractive Gentile female unless she has first been your captive. Under no circumstances must you exploit the Torah's permission to wed such a prisoner by engaging in the pursuit of a woman who catches your fancy with the intention of making her your wife or your concubine if she had not previously happened to be your captive. This is the reason that the Torah writes the sequence ושבית שביו וראית בשביה, "if you have taken a prisoner and then you see amongst the prisoners, etc." The reason the Torah wrote שביו, "its prisoner," instead of simply אותו, "it," is because (according to Sifri) we are not speaking about a defensive war but about a war of acquisition, (authorised by G'd, i.e. the High Priest) and the Torah wishes to include permission to take captive even a Canaanite of the seven nations who would have had to be executed had the Torah spoken about the war when the Israelites captured the Holy Land under the leadership of Joshua. In other words, although such a person would have been killed if she had been encountered in Joshua's wars of conquest, the fact that she was captured outside the boundaries of ארץ ישראל saved her life.

ספרי) במלחמת הרשות הכתוב מדבר, כי תצא), es spricht hier nicht von dem Kriege zur Besitznahme des palästinensischen Landes (siehe zu Kap. 20, 1).

כי תצא למלחמה, “when you go forth to do battle;” the Torah refers only to what are known in the Talmud as milchemet r’shut, wars that have been sanctioned by G-d after consultation with Him through the High Priest. The reason that this is clear beyond doubt is that the Torah permits you to take prisoners.

כי תצא למלחמה על אויביך ונתנו ה' אלו-היך בידך ושבית שביו, “When you go into battle against your enemies and the Lord your G’d delivers him into your hand and you take as (its) prisoner.” We would have expected the Torah to write ונתנם, “and He will deliver them into your hand,” instead of “and He will deliver him into your hands.” The Torah means that the defeat of your enemies will be so drastic as if they had all been only one man. Alternatively, the word ונתנו refers to the protective angel of the enemy nation in the celestial regions. The words ושבית שביו refer to the enemies here on earth.

Another thing the Torah has in mind by writing "and He delivers them into your hands," following it up with "and you capture its prisoner," is to limit your authority over human life. Once you have captured a prisoner you are not free to kill him or her unless the Torah had commanded this such as in 20,16 "you must not let anyone survive." The source for this limitation on your powers as a captor is the reminder that G'd delivers your enemy into your hands, you did not achieve victory by your own prowess.

ספרי) כנגד אויביך על אויביך), es bezeichnet dieses על nicht einen unprovozierten Überfall, den setzt der Text nicht voraus. Es bezeichnet dieses על die Feindlichkeit einer Absicht überhaupt, die Absicht der Besiegung.

ושבית שביו, “and you carry away prisoners you have taken.” This includes Canaanites, who might have emigrated from their land during the wars conducted by Joshua. (Rashi, based on Sifri)