Why should a premature birth require a penalty (Exodus 21:22-23)?

Question

22 If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely[e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Exodus 21:22-25 NIV)

[e] Exodus 21:22 Or she has a miscarriage

That which was within her has 'departed from her'. That's a miscarriage, not a premature birth. — Nigel J, Nov 10 '18 at 18:44
Relevant: House, H. Wayne. “Miscarriage or Premature Birth: Additional Thoughts on Exodus 21:22–25.” Westminster Theological Journal, 41.1: 108–23 (1978). — Der Übermensch, Nov 11 '18 at 21:54
Relevant: Fuller, Russell. “Exodus 21:22–23: The Miscarriage Interpretation and the Personhood of the Fetus.” JETS 37/2: 169–184 (June 1994). — Der Übermensch, Nov 11 '18 at 21:59
Possible duplicate of Exodus 21:22: is "mischief" related only to the mother or to the baby, too? — Der Übermensch, Nov 11 '18 at 22:01
Premature birth usually endangers the life of the (un)born child. — Lucian, Nov 17 '18 at 14:27

score 1 · Answer 1 · 2018-11-11T23:09:28.453

1

Its not natural premature birth its a forced abortion by fighting people were a pregnant woman gets drawn it and causes a early, unnaturel forced birth, see vs 22 beginning.

The fighting people would be guilty of Murder if the baby died:-

NWT Exodus 20:13 "You must not murder."

edited Nov 11 '18 at 23:09

answered Nov 10 '18 at 19:01

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 11 '18 at 21:17

Hi Jck Gutknecht and welcome to the BH site. Now if we take a closer look to the verse in question

> Exodus 21:22

"If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. (NIV)

... we can surely notice that this is not really a case of miscarriage. It is rather a premature birth caused by an accident. It is not even about abortion. Two men are fighting and the pregnant woman gets hit. She is not seriously injured, however she gives birth. From Exodus 21:22 we don't know what it is to be done if the child dies (like in a case of miscarriage or abortion). What we do know is that the woman's husband is entitled to demand some sort of a compensation to the offender. So it is not the woman that is punished, but the one who has hit the woman and caused the premature birth. This is to be underlined:

Exodus 21:22

... a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely ... (NIV)

Which I would read: she gives birth prematurely and the child is alive. Of course, there is a lot of discussion around this. Please have a look here.

So, it is not about miscarriage, it is not about abortion, it is not about the belief that the unborn is not considered fully human. It is simply about an accident, the woman is not seriously injured and the child is alive.

Why would this require a penalty, then? Well, first of all because of the accident, just like in a case of an accidental killing, just like in Deuteronomy 4:41 sq for instance. Or simply because of the fact that, just like today, a premature born child was in a special need for a while, compared to other children, and this was expected to make the baby's parents life more complicated and thus they were entitled to some sort of a compensation for their trouble.

Why should a premature birth require a penalty (Exodus 21:22-23)?

2 Answers2