Deuteronomy chapter 21

vs 12

Head shaving is supposed to be a mark of shame for a woman in Greek culture - perhaps it wasn't the same in Hebrew culture. The cutting fingernails remark sounds like they're converting a wild woman from the jungle, but I assume these could all be symbols of the woman putting aside her old life. Either that, or it's just cultural difference.

vs 13

Because marriage really was as simple as that. What they called "common law marriage" back in the days of yore. Just on that point, common law marriage has been a fact for thousands of years. It was only in the 1500s that the Catholic church refused to recognise common law marriages, and required a priest to preside. So for all those Christians who think that you somehow need to get married in a church building, finding some Biblical precedent will be difficult. The best thing you will do is talk about NT marriage celebrations - but the culture of arranged marriage and common law marriage is so different to western culture that it's hard to make concrete comparisons.

vs 14

So once you "marry" her (ie do the nasty), if you're not pleased, you can't then pimp her out. You can keep her as a slave if you don't do this, but once you start dishonouring your captured women, then they are free if you don't keep them as a wife. And as we will see, wives are wives - you can't have your "saucy wife" and your "cleaning wife". Well, actually, you can. But you have to treat them the same.

vs 15

Sounds like a Jerry Springer show. Seriously, multiple wives? Are you seriously thinking it's worth it?

vs 16

This is a classic case of "Do as I say, not as I do" from God. God has claimed the weak and not firstborn from among people already (Jacob, Joseph) and will continue (David, Solomon). You could almost argue that God wants Israel to keep the tradition of the importance of firstborn so that it is more obvious when he breaks it.

vs 17

Having a son is a sign of strength, apparently. Is this an eternal biblical precept, or is it a culture more? I'll let you think about that one.

vs 18

Wait, isn't this everyone? Oh, no, wait a moment - they actually disciplined their children back then and made them work. They didn't have a 6-12 year long adolescence. You went from boy to man. And people actually had to work hard to provide for themselves and their family.

vs 19

You know it's not good when you end up at the gates of the town in front of the old guys. Because they will say, "Kids these days, I don't know. I remember when I was his age, my father hand an onion on his belt, which was the style at the time..." and so on.

vs 20

I tried to find the hebrew word for what the (T)NIV translates as 'profligate' (NASB and KJV "glutton") . Couldn't work it out. Am feeling lazy. Basically the son is a bum. We think, "Ahh, being a drunkard means that he must be an adult." I'd like to see where in the law it gives a minimum age for drinking. But he probably is an adult - we have to remember that even though you were a "man" a lot younger, you were basically employed by the family business (farming) until your dad retired. So this is like the punishment for both a bad child and a bad employee.

Thankfully, my Hebrew scholar of a wife tells me that the word (which I did discover, but then couldn't look up out of laziness) means that he "makes light of things", that is that he wastes things, and treats things as if worthless. This is where they get the idea of gluttony from. Not sure if profligate really covers it. I think the Ben translation "bum" is best used.

vs 21

And of course, that makes it totally fair to kill this person. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that some sort of disowning and poverty would have been sufficient, but God apparently knows best, and best means more killing.

vs 22

Pole is an interesting translation from the TNIV. Even the NIV stuck with tree. Even I know the hebrew word for 'tree', and this is it. But apparently, it can mean more than just tree - even a gallows uses the same word. Which makes sense, when you see it written in Hebrew. Still, for them to go 'pole' instead of 'tree' is a break from translation tradition for quite a well known verse.

vs 23

Now, I can't say I'm 100% sure about this. It might be talking about their body as a living body, but I have a feeling the word will turn out to be 'corpse'. Yup, it is. So that makes me more sure of what I'm going to say - the corpse is there hanging on a pole. If you leave it there, that person is under God's curse (and it is the person, just a simple pronouny bit). So that means, surely, that there was some sort of cursing going on after they are dead. So here is a hint at there being more to life than just life - once you die, there are further consequences. And what happens to your corpse can apparently make a difference.

And I don't think I need to make reference to the obvious prophetic reference to Christ here. So I won't.