Shave her head and pare her nails?

De 21:10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and YHWH thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; {pare: or, suffer to grow: Heb. make, or, dress}
13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

Shave her head and pare her nails?

I have often wondered what the reason for this instruction might be. Was there some "ceremonial" reason, or could there be a more practical reason? I still don't know the answer, but I was listening to this when these thoughts came to me:

http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/1276800/jewish/Parsh...

I am one who believes that I (and all humans) have a dual nature. A voice from within my physical being (nephesh) who speaks and nags for me to fulfill (and indulge in) its basic needs and desires, food, shelter, procreation. The other voice being from Above, HaElohym speaking and "nagging" at me to do the right thing and not just be self serving. So, from my perspective, I see mankind as having developed over the millenia, becoming better at listening to the Voice from Above (our conscience?), becoming less and less animalistic. Well, 4000 or so years ago when this instruction was given was a different time from today, but I would still imagine that if you found yourself attracted to a captive woman, you wouldn't want to just bring this creature into your home. She might kill you in your sleep. Are you going to keep her tied up? No, you want to bring her in gently, let her know you want to care for her, not hurt her. You want her to become comfortable in your home, BECAUSE you find her attractive. You want to gain her trust.

So, we have all seen the imagery of the caveman dragging his woman by the hair. Where do these seemingly ancient ideas come from? Well, lets face it, you can control a person quite well if you are stronger than them and you grab them by the hair. I can see how you allowing/encouraging her to shave her head would help express your intent, while at the same time her doing her nails might have something to do with their being her greatest physical weapon against you. Those were much more "animalistic" times for humanity than we here in the USA are accustomed to today.

Sincerely,
Tom

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ted Walther on September 10, 2011 at 11:57am

If she was beautiful, it would stop the Israelite hens from "pecking" at this foreign intruder in their midst. By the time the hair grew back, the womenfolk would have adjusted to her presence. Otherwise they would have abused her out of jealousy. Very astute psychology. As for dressing her nails; they were cut, not grown.

Really, this commandment is about seeing the woman as she really is. Stripping her of her make-up and jewelry, nails and hair.

Also, it would get rid of lice, earwigs, and other things that hide in the hair of a pagan.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Moniz on September 10, 2011 at 12:05pm

Lol, and what other things might hide in the hair of a pagan? Seriously though, good points, and I agree about "doing" her nails.

Tom

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Permalink Reply by Len Gesinski on September 10, 2011 at 4:34pm

Seeing What is 'Real' of a Person, Devoid of the Extraneous Stuff(s)-Seeing from a Non Judgemental Perspective.

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Permalink Reply by Leo333 on September 18, 2011 at 12:20am

See Maslow's Hierarchy of needs.

Peace be with you.

Leo333

( I tend to think Ted nailed this one one the head, pun intended!!!)

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Permalink Reply by Leo333 on September 18, 2011 at 12:28am

P.S. Could it also be our approach to non-believers? And culturally hair is the crowning glory to women. To remove, false doctrine? paganism? just to put it out there, but I think Ted's message is clear :)

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Permalink Reply by Ted Walther on September 19, 2011 at 8:36pm

Thanks Victor. I don't think they were more primitive or less reasonable back then. Solomon said "there is nothing new under the sun." He really meant it!

Visualize this; young Israelite man goes to war. Maybe he is poor. He captures a beautiful maiden, and brings her home. Or maybe it is an old geezer past his prime, with grandkids running around everywhere. The women of the household are of the same social class and looks as the warrior. Suddenly this slim beauty with pouty lips lands in their midst. That threatens the whole social order they have organized out. Same as when you introduce a new cow to a herd. But worse.

Take away the beauty, (long hair and painted nails). What happens? This degrades the captives status. None of the women can feel threatened. Well, most of them won't feel threatened. She learns her place at the bottom of the social order. As her hair comes in, she rises in status based on her personality, not only on her looks. She is a captive, not some savior CEO being parachuted in by the board of directors!

And if her personality is bad, it is easier to see it with the physical beauty stripped away.

Also, if her beauty is left intact, all the men-folk will be ignoring the home-born women. It is the beautiful new captive who will have all their attention. Super jealousy for the faithful wives. Without her beauty, the men will return to their wives and reassure them of their love. The captive will have to deal with the local women, because she won't be able to bend the local men around her little finger. If the captive is still desirable in 30 days, the man just adds another wife to his household. Minimum fuss and disturbance. Bad eggs get weeded out before they can do damage to the family unit.

It helps the man to dispassionately look at the captive woman as regards her real merits. It opens his ears to the things that the home-born women have to say about her. Women show parts of their personality to each other that they really don't want men to see.

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Permalink Reply by Leo333 on September 20, 2011 at 5:00pm

Ted,

Beautifully said and very insightful. Something my grandmother use to say, "Make no mistake, for a woman, beauty is not a blessing but a curse". Recently in a conversation, another of her wisdoms was brought to recollection, as must have been needed, so I have faith, this too is a gift for someone else. Another piece of her wisdom , I recently shared, "Don't give up the day before your miracle". Just a little shout out!!! Her first name was Blanca, translates to white rose, meaning for white roses, "you are worthy".

Peace be with you.

Leo333