Pragmatically, allowing a captured woman who has just lost her family, security, and home as well as possibly seen loved ones die, might make for a happier 'marriage' if you allow her a little time to grieve and get closure before you rape her and force her into a 'marriage' that she had no choice in. ...just saying.
Maybe it wasn't such a dumb thing after all.
And, btw, the Hebrews certainly weren't the only ancient culture to take captured women as wives. In fact, I think their captives had a little more rights as spelled out in the OT than other cultures of the same period. (But I'm not a historian and may be wrong about that.) I'd think that just naming them as wives gave them more status than that of sex slave/drudge. Women didn't have a lot of choices. Or girls as we consider them now.
BTW, I like Coyote's pragmatic view on #1 as well.
Maybe it wasn't such a dumb thing after all.
And, btw, the Hebrews certainly weren't the only ancient culture to take captured women as wives. In fact, I think their captives had a little more rights as spelled out in the OT than other cultures of the same period. (But I'm not a historian and may be wrong about that.) I'd think that just naming them as wives gave them more status than that of sex slave/drudge. Women didn't have a lot of choices. Or girls as we consider them now.
BTW, I like Coyote's pragmatic view on #1 as well.