This positive
Mitzvah is one of my favorites.
Maimonides assigns it number 221.
Women often give the best commentary on this kinky stuff, for example - Deuteronomy 21:10-14: The Beautiful Captive Woman
PEARL ELMAN
http://sites.utoronto.ca/wjudaism/journ ... n1elma.htm
She goes into the following issues -
1. The nature of the sexual act contempated by Deut. 21: 10-14.
2. The type of war in which it is permissible to take captives.
3a. The possible reasons for and effect of biblical permission to marry a captive woman.
3b. The attitude of the post-biblical sages to this permission.
4. When intercourse may take place.
5. The biblical rituals, their later development by the sages, and the attitude of the sages to these rituals.
6. Was the conversion of the captive woman mandatory or optional, Noahide or Israelite?
7. The rules regulating the release of the captive woman.
8. Can Deuteronomy 21:10-14 be understood as anti-rape legislation?
Needless to say, the key question is when intercourse can take place -which also needless to say, Dr. Elman puts in the middle of her excellent paper.
Bavli Kiddushin 21b addresses a number of issues related to intercourse with a captive in its discussion on whether captive women are allowed to priests. The fact that this question is asked confirms that it is only intercourse, but not marriage, which is being discussed; unlike other Israelites, priests are not allowed to marry converts. The issue is resolved that since the Torah allows captive women as a concession to the evil inclination, i.e. lust, one act of intercourse is definitely permitted. As priests also have evil inclinations, they too are allowed one act of intercourse. However, as a priest is not allowed to marry the captive, a second act of intercourse is not permitted. Clearly, one act of intercourse is the absolute minimum with which the sages can satisfy what they consider to be biblical law. It can be interpreted that the Bavli is setting limitations on availability while trying not to contravene the biblical law as the Bavli's sages understood it.
In other words, it's OK to have intercourse once, before the ritualistic matters begin (or not).
There is a weird dispute about -
You shall bring her into your house, and she shall trim her hair, pare her nails, (Deut. 21:12 TNK)
I'm not sure why TNK gives "...trim her hair"
וְגִלְּחָה֙ אֶת־רֹאשָׁ֔הּ in this phrase
וְגִלְּחָה means shave. However "...pare her nails
וְעָשְׂתָ֖ה אֶת־צִפָּרְנֶֽיהָ׃ the word
וְעָשְׂתָ֖ה means do - so "do her nails".
Rashi thinks that means let her nails grow - no doubt basing that on something in the Talmud. Anyway "cut her nails" is much more accepted.