(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 21:10–14, “When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 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. 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 make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.”
In Old Testament times, soldiers were not paid, by their own leaders, to be in the army and fight in battles. They would take their pay at the end of a victorious battle by taking plunder from the army they fought and entering their towns and cities to take anything they desired. From time to time a man might be attracted to a women he saw after the battle and decide that he wanted to marry that woman. The Israelites already had firm customs for marriage. Marriages were first arranged by the parents of the bride and groom or their representatives. After that the marriages would take place and a bride price would be paid. During a time of war there wasn’t the time or the means to make formal marriage arrangements, often the girl’s parents were not available because they had been killed, taken captive or run away. The bride price would have been taken as plunder so the man who desired one of the women could assume that she was legitimate plunder. However, the Lord forbade Israel from raping all the women who belonged to the enemy. If they wanted to take a woman they were expected to marry that woman. She had to be given time to mourn her own family and become ceremonially clean, then the man could legally marry her. If he decided later that he didn’t want her any more, he was responsible to treat her with respect and dignity and not like a slave or plunder.
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