DEUT982 The Mishnah of Sotah 8.5 states "' And the officers shall speak further to the people and say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted?' [This verse] Rabbi Aqiva says: 'Fearful and fainthearted' is meant literally – – he cannot endure the armies joined in battle or bear to see a drawn sword." According to this mishnah, Rabbi Aqiva was inclined to exempt from the war anyone who could not on principle bear arms ("cannot bear to see a drawn sword"). This appears to point to a volunteer army in which an exemption from participating in a war is granted for a person who by nature cannot participate in active combat. (This is not necessarily a person morally opposed to war but rather a person who cannot engage in active combat for a number of possible reasons (i.e., fear, compassion, etc.).