Deuteronomy 20:5

20:5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, ¹  “Who among you ²  has built a new house and not dedicated ³  it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else ⁴  dedicate it.

Deuteronomy 20:7-8

20:7 Or who among you ⁵  has become engaged to a woman but has not married her? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else marry her.” 20:8 In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’s ⁶  heart as fearful ⁷  as his own.”

Deuteronomy 24:5

24:5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into ⁸  the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to ⁹  the wife he has married.

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¹ tn Heb “people” (also in vv. 8, 9).

² tn Heb “Who [is] the man” (also in vv. 6, 7, 8).

³ tn The Hebrew term חָנַךְ (khanakh) occurs elsewhere only with respect to the dedication of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 8:63 = 2 Chr 7:5). There it has a religious connotation which, indeed, may be the case here as well. The noun form (חָנֻכָּה, khanukah) is associated with the consecration of the great temple altar (2 Chr 7:9) and of the postexilic wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:27). In Maccabean times the festival of Hanukkah was introduced to celebrate the rededication of the temple following its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1 Macc 4:36-61).

⁴ tn Heb “another man.”

⁵ tn Heb “Who [is] the man.”

⁶ tn Heb “his brother’s.”

⁷ tn Heb “melted.”

⁸ tn Heb “go out with.”

⁹ tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).