 The Gemara taught that the procedure of applied only when the captive did not accept the commandments, for if she accepted the commandments, then she could be immersed in a ritual bath (, "mikveh"), and she and the soldier could marry immediately.Rabbi Eliezer interpreted the words "and she shall shave her head and do her nails" in to mean that she was to cut her nails, but Rabbi Akiva interpreted the words to mean that she was to let them grow.Rabbi Eliezer reasoned that specified an act with respect to the head and an act with respect to the nails, and as the former meant removal, so should the latter.