And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
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Clement Of Alexandria
AD 215
Again, the law in its humanity says that if a man has built a new house but has not yet moved in, or laid out a new vineyard but has not yet enjoyed the fruit, or become betrothed to a girl but has not yet married her, he is to be excused military service. This makes military sense, since we would be unenthusiastic in our military service if we were being pulled in the direction of the things we longed for. People expose themselves to danger without a second thought only if they are free in relation to natural impulses. It is also humane, in the calculation that the outcome of war is uncertain and it is unjust for such a man not to benefit from his own labors or for someone else who has taken no trouble to possess the property of those who have put in the work.
Captains. Hebrew, "shot rim, (Septuagint grammateis,) shall proclaim to the people. "Whether these were the chief officers, or only heralds, does not appear. (Calmet)
They were probably the priests attached to the army, ver. 2. See chap. i. 15. (Haydock)
Dedicate it. Hebrew, "begin to use it "on which occasion a feast was made. (Jansenius)
Psalm xxix seems to have been intended for such a solemnity. At the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem, great rejoicings were made, 2 Esdras xii. 27. Josephus and the Rabbins allow a whole year for the occupation of the house, before the builder or new owner, could be obliged to go to war, in like manner as that term is specified for a person who had lately married a wife, chap. xxiv.5. The ancient Greeks deemed it a great misfortune to leave a house unfinished and a new wife desolate, which was the case of Protesilaus. (Homer, Iliad i.)
