There is a lot of misogynistic language in Ki Tetzei, starting with the distasteful scenario of the “beautiful captive” and the Israelite captor who desires her (21:10-14), swiftly followed by the laws pertaining to the “hated” wife in a polygamous household (21:15-17).
The language used to discuss marriage is frequently aggressive. Marriage comes about when a man “takes a wife” (22:13, 24:1,5). Sometimes it is even violent: “If a man comes upon a virgin… and he seizes her and lies with her” (22:28).
A husband tries to escape a marriage by claiming that his bride is not a virgin (22:14). Rape results in the victim marrying her rapist (22:28). Divorce is initiated by a husband finding something distasteful in his wife (22:13 and 24:1).
The cases discussed are all dysfunctional: a married woman committing adultery (22:22), an engaged virgin having unlawful sex with another man (22:23, 28), the forbidden remarriage between a man and his divorced ex-wife (24:1-4), levirate marriage where a husband has died childless (25:5-10). It’s all rather bleak, although arguably untroubled marriages do not require legislation, which is why they don’t feature.
