Deuteronomy 20-22

In this passage, God shows the Israelites how to handle various real-life situations.

1. Going to War
The Israelites are commanded to stand firm in the face of an enemy that is numerically superior, since God has already given them the victory. To emphasize the Lord's role in the impending battle, the Israelite officers are told to discharge any soldiers who are not fully committed to dealing with their enemies. Also, when conquering enemy cities that are relatively isolated, the Israelites are allowed to take women, children and livestock as plunder while killing all of the enemy males - but only after presenting an initial offer of peace and laying siege to the city in question. In addition, when conquering enemy cities that are not relatively isolated, the Israelites are commanded to completely destroy them, lest they fall into sin. As an addendum, the Israelites are prohibited from using fruit trees for their siege works.

2. Atonement for an Unsolved Murder
Assume that a man has been murdered, and the identity of his killer cannot be determined. The elders of the town that is closest to the body of the dead man are commanded to take a heifer that has neither plowed a field nor been yoked and lead her to a pristine valley with a flowing stream. They must then break the heifer's neck and pray that the Lord will accept the heifer's death as an atonement for the murder in question. I do wonder why God wouldn't allow the identity of the killer to be ascertained via the drawing of lots, though.

3. Marrying a Captive Woman
Whenever the Israelites are permitted to take women as captives after their battles, they are also allowed to marry them. These brides-to-be must have their heads shaved and their nails trimmed; they must also put aside the clothes that they were wearing when they were captured. After a period of mourning for their parents that lasts one month, these brides-to-be can be married to their Israelite lovers. Divorce is allowed in these situations, though the divorced women cannot be regarded as slaves, which would be a mark of dishonor.

4. The Right of the Firstborn
Assume that a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other; moreover, the wife that he does not love has given him his firstborn son. In this case, the man must conform to the standard practice of giving his firstborn son a double portion of his possessions. I find this to be quite satisfying.

5. A Rebellious Son
A son who refuses to obey his parents must be dragged by them to the elders at the gate of their town. After the parents declare the facts regarding their son's behavior, the men of their town must stone the rebellious son to death. This is done in order to set a dramatic example for all Israel to note.

6. Various Laws
Here, the Israelites are presented with a potpourri of commandments, including: promptly burying a man who has been hanged for murder, properly dealing with an item that a fellow Israelite has lost, helping a fellow Israelite's fallen donkey or ox to get up, prohibiting cross-dressing, freeing a mother bird when taking her young or her eggs (which I found to be a bit strange), building a parapet around the roof of a new house as a safety measure, enforcing purity - as seen in commandments regarding seed planting and proper material for clothing, and making tassels on the corners of cloaks (which I also found to be a bit strange).

7. Marriage Violations
Here, the Israelites are presented with various regulations regarding marriage. First, assume that a man claims that his wife was not a virgin when they were married. This is a serious allegation, and so his wife's parents must go to the town elders at the gate of their town and bring proof of their daughter's virginity before her marriage. If the elders deem the evidence to be acceptable, the man must pay a hundred shekels of silver to his father-in-law, and he is prohibited from divorcing his wife. Now if the evidence is not deemed acceptable, the men of that town must stone his wife to death in front of her father's house. Second, adulterers must be put to death. Third, assume that a man has slept with a betrothed virgin within the limits of a town; both of them must be put to death. Now if this act occurs outside of a town, only the man must be put to death. Fourth, assume that a man has slept with a virgin who is not betrothed; they must then be married after the man has paid the girl's father fifty shekels of silver, and divorce is not allowed for the duration of the husband's life. Lastly, a man must not commit adultery with any of his father's wives.