When it's OK to Rape

Many Biblical laws are designed to protect the unfortunate and disadvantaged. An example of this is female prisoners-of-war, whom Israelite warriors are permitted to adopt forcibly as wives.

י  כִּי-תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה, עַל-אֹיְבֶיךָ; וּנְתָנוֹ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּיָדֶךָ--וְשָׁבִיתָ שִׁבְיוֹ.	10 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou carriest them away captive,
יא  וְרָאִיתָ, בַּשִּׁבְיָה, אֵשֶׁת, יְפַת-תֹּאַר; וְחָשַׁקְתָּ בָהּ, וְלָקַחְתָּ לְךָ לְאִשָּׁה.	11 and seest among the captives a woman of goodly form, and thou hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife;

 Here is where the law departs from the normal custom. The warrior is instructed to allow the captive to shave her head and observe a period of mourning for her parents:

יב  וַהֲבֵאתָהּ, אֶל-תּוֹךְ בֵּיתֶךָ; וְגִלְּחָה, אֶת-רֹאשָׁהּ, וְעָשְׂתָה, אֶת-צִפָּרְנֶיהָ.	12 then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
יג  וְהֵסִירָה אֶת-שִׂמְלַת שִׁבְיָהּ מֵעָלֶיהָ, וְיָשְׁבָה בְּבֵיתֶךָ, וּבָכְתָה אֶת-אָבִיהָ וְאֶת-אִמָּהּ, יֶרַח יָמִים; וְאַחַר כֵּן תָּבוֹא אֵלֶיהָ, וּבְעַלְתָּהּ, וְהָיְתָה לְךָ, לְאִשָּׁה.	13 and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month; and after that thou mayest go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

Only after this thirty-day period is the warrior permitted to consummate the relationship. This law appears to be designed to protect the captive's rights. It would add terrible insult to injury to kidnap an innocent woman away from her parents and marry her the next day. So the Bible mandates a thirty-day cooling-off and mourning period. Interestingly, this is the closest thing in the Pentateuch to a Jewish 'conversion' ceremony for a woman.

But the real gem of this passage comes in the final verse:

יד  וְהָיָה אִם-לֹא חָפַצְתָּ בָּהּ, וְשִׁלַּחְתָּהּ לְנַפְשָׁהּ, וּמָכֹר לֹא-תִמְכְּרֶנָּה, בַּכָּסֶף; לֹא-תִתְעַמֵּר בָּהּ, תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר עִנִּיתָהּ.

14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not deal with her as a slave, since thou hast raped her.

The root ENH ענהּ, when used in the context of sex, is the Biblical Hebrew verb for rape. I'll give you a couple of examples.

    Genesis 34 (Dinah daughter of Jacob):

ב  וַיַּרְא אֹתָהּ שְׁכֶם בֶּן-חֲמוֹר, הַחִוִּי--נְשִׂיא הָאָרֶץ; וַיִּקַּח אֹתָהּ וַיִּשְׁכַּב אֹתָהּ, וַיְעַנֶּהָ.

2 And Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her; and he took her, and lay with her, and raped her.

     II Samuel 13 (Amnon and Tamar):

יב  וַתֹּאמֶר לוֹ, אַל-אָחִי אַל-תְּעַנֵּנִי--כִּי לֹא-יֵעָשֶׂה כֵן, בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל:  אַל-תַּעֲשֵׂה, אֶת-הַנְּבָלָה הַזֹּאת.

12 And she answered him: 'Nay, my brother, do not rape me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel; do not thou this wanton deed.

So, in the context of the female POW, the Bible is giving an example of adding insult to injury. It's bad enough that you kidnapped and raped this poor woman... don't go selling her into slavery on top of all that. This is the meaning of Deut. 12:14.

This entire passage may seem rather atrocious to us in the post-Geneva Conventions era. After all, the Bible here is condoning rape. Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that female captives were presumably a common spoil of war back in Biblical times. The law is designed to protect such POWs, although it obviously could have gone much further. In the Bible's final sentence - since you have raped her - there is a hint of irony. One senses that the author himself is somewhat disgusted with the whole situation.