Deuteronomy 22:21-24 sits inside this longer paragraph.
20But if this thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady, 21then they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father’s house. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
22If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel. 23If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man finds her in the city, and lies with her, 24then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife. So you shall remove the evil from among you. 25But if the man finds the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die; 26but to the lady you shall do nothing. There is in the lady no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter; 27for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her. 28If a man finds a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, grabs her and lies with her, and they are found, 29then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days. 30A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v24 Or, defiled.
Or, defiled.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv22, 24 Deu 22:22 If a man be found lying with…
Deu 22:22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, [both] the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
Ver. 22. With a woman married.] Adultery was punished with death; because society and the purity of posterity could not otherwise continue amongst men.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv21–24 Quest. Why should she die when her crime was…
Quest. Why should she die when her crime was only fornication, which was not punished in a woman with death, Exo 22:16,17?
Answ. Because there was not only fornication in this case, as Exo 22, but this was accompanied with deep dissimulation and injury to her husband in the false profession of virginity, and it might be presumed that she committed this folly after she was betrothed to him, and therefore so obstinately denied it, as knowing the danger of it in that case; or God ordered it thus for the honour and custody of the matrimonial bed from all defilement, that she, who being defiled before she was married or betrothed, and therefore not punishable by death, yet if she should presume to carry her defilement into the married estate with a pretence of virginity, she should then be put to death.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv21–24 If a man be found lying with a woman…
If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband,..... This law respects adultery, and is the same with that in Lev 20:10.
then they shall both of them die; with the strangling of a napkin, as the Targum of Jonathan, which is the death such persons were put to; and is always meant when death is simply spoken of, and it is not specified what death; See Gill on Lev 20:10,
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both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; they were both to die, and to die the same death:
so shalt thou put away evil from Israel; such that do it, as the above Targum; See Gill on Deu 22:21.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v24 She cried not - And therefore is justly presumed…
She cried not - And therefore is justly presumed to have consented to it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v22 Verse 22. Shall both of them die] Thus we…
Verse 22. Shall both of them die] Thus we find that in the most ancient of all laws adultery was punished with death in both the parties.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v24 Deu 22:24-27. She cried not — And therefore is…
Deu 22:24-27. She cried not — And therefore is justly presumed to have consented to it. As when a man riseth against his neighbour, even so is this matter — Not an act of choice, but of force and constraint. The damsel cried — Which is in that case to be presumed; charity obliging us to believe the best, till the contrary be manifest.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv21–24 Die. It was concluded that she had committed the…
Die. It was concluded that she had committed the sin after her espousal. If it had happened before, she was to receive only 25 sicles for a dowry; though, if she took an oath that violence had been offered to her, she was entitled to 50: which opinion of the Rabbins seems very equitable. Æschines (in Timarch.) relates, that a man at Athens punished the transgression of which his daughter had been guilty, while she was at home, by shutting her up with a horse, in order that she might be torn in pieces by the famished animal. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v22 Tenth Commandment
Tenth Commandment
Deu_22:22-30
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22If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. 23If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find [meet] her in the city, and lie with her; 24Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled [abased] his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away 25evil from among you. But [And] if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her [seize hold of her] and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die: 26But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth [standeth up] against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: 27For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her. 28If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found [surprised, caught]; 29Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days [all his life long]. 30A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. As the foregoing directions give the occasion for representing the coveting forbidden in the tenth command, as the lust of the flesh, so this is still more practically the case; the desire cannot be more evident. The discourse, however, recapitulates the sixth, eighth, and ninth commands, although it is directed mainly to the seventh. Deu_22:22. בעלת־בעל (Deu_21:13) married to an husband, ruled of her lord, and intimates quietly that lust is of the nature of theft, violation of the rights of property. As they lie together so they shall both die; for the adultery cries out against the one as well as against the other, Lev_20:10. The betrothed maiden (Deu_22:14) is placed on an equality with the married woman, Deu_22:23 (Gen_29:21; Mat_1:20). In Deu_22:22 as in Deu_22:23, the life, the continuous life of the neighbor in his descendants, was violated. Hence in Deu_22:24 the like punishment also as in Deu_22:22, life for life. She cried not, a closer modification of in the city, where help could be had. Thus the supposition is of fellowship in the lust. ענה (Deu_21:14) a violation at the same time of her true honor, thus a breach of the ninth command. In the case stated in Deu_22:25, the man alone is to be put to death, since Deu_22:26 presents his violence as a murderous attack upon the betrothed. No sin of death,which should be punished with death, (Deu_21:22; 1Jn_5:16). Comp. Deu_19:11; Deu_19:6. The reason is stated still more definitely in Deu_22:27, either the fact, or its supposition, she cried and there was none to save her. The 28th verse is a more precise completion of Exo_22:16-17. The law can only take cognizance of lust in the constructive deed, otherwise it would open the floodgates to the lust of slander (the ninth commandment). Deu_22:29. (Comp. Deu_22:19) the violation of the property of the father, whose right to refuse his daughter is presupposed in the fifth command, and did not need to be further guarded here on the occasion of the second table. The prohibition of lust closes in Deu_22:30, with the most aggravated case, of the injured mother (step-mother) and father. Comp. upon Lev_18:8 (Gen_35:22). Incestuous lust going out from the blood reaches blood. It needs therefore only the prohibition, the specializing of all that is forbidden in this regard occurs elsewhere. Incest is self-injury. The skirt (wing, edge, corner, Deu_22:12) the paternal upper garment [Ges.: Coverlet of the bed, so that to discover the skirt was to defile the bed,—A. G.], (Rth_3:9) covering all that belonged to the father, even his widow, bride, as it covered his own nakedness, which was uncovered with that of his wife. Lev_18:6; Eze_16:8. Comp. Deu_27:20.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. If the last commandment is directed against covetous desire, as the root of every sin with respect to the second table of the law; so the same was already asserted, Deu_5:18, in reference to the woman. It is not only practically continued, to bring out lust now in its application to the same reference, but as nature divides the race into the twofoldness of the sexes, presents her as the very closest neighbor, at the same time the most natural form of desire of which men are conscious, Gen_2:20. The law must address itself the more, to this form of lust, since with its spread there occurs also the spreading of sin, the mystery of life becomes the mystery of death, and the law must not only restrain the excesses of the sinful inclination, but as its final goal must be a way-mark, a school-master to Christ, Eph_5:32.
2. The twofoldness of the sexes exhibits nothing more than the necessity on the one side, and the prospect of satisfaction on the other. Marriage is the legal and proper removal of the natural contrasts, so much so that any outrage against this, may be regarded as the transgression of lust against all the commands of the second table. In marriage the neighbor is regarded as with regard to his wife, so with regard to his life, property, honor, indeed generally as the individual with respect to the species.
3. Only as the wife of her husband is she apprehended as a person who supplements, completes another person. Regard for this, chastity, preserves her from being regarded and treated as a thing. With this application of lust therefore as sexual, there is connected the apprehension of the personality, that which is the most spiritual in the one nearest, the closest neighbor.
4. The repeated and prominent allusion to the maiden (Deu_22:27-28), and as she is the betrothed, may personify chastity, as inclination and desire are glorified and taken up into affection and love. As נַעַר (Keri נַעֲרָה) she is the youth, humanity generally in its youthful being. As כְתוּלָה she appears as the sexual other being. As the betrothed she represents, in the bride, the poetry of the first love. Violence in such a case, still more the perversion and corruption when the bride-like yields consent, as over against the ideality of this relation, must be punished as the most flagrant excess and crime, (Deu_22:24-25). So also the protection and compassion of the law (Deu_22:26 sq.) in regard to the tragic fate of one involved in misfortune, helpless against overcoming violence.
5. The sexual inclination should (28, 29) through that lasting union, to which attention is called, find its purification, be glorified into love, lose its barbarous and bestial character, be elevated to its moral form and idea.
6. When now the treatment in regard to lust closes with the peculiar crying crime of incest (Deu_22:30), the man in this case has fallen entirely into the power of the inclination, of the animal man; indeed more, the sexual lust passion, appears as the very thing in view, etc. 1Co_5:1 sq. Incest is regarded here in its relation to the universal moral consciousness, for the animal, e.g., manifests no limit of blood. So here in Deut. the instance selected is not from the relation of sister; the marriage of the sister was the closest original form of marriage.
7. Since in what follows the discourse passes over to all Israel, the treatment of lust, as the sexual lust, agrees well with the connection. As the life instinct concerns the individual, his life and support, so the sexual instinct the life and existence of the whole.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
As love is the fulfilling of all the commands, so lust is their transgression. Eph_5:3; Col_3:5. Deu_22:22. Lange: “The marriage contract is very far from a mere civil one.” Schultz: “The married woman, through harlotry, is viewed in the Old Testament as an adulteress under all circumstances, the married man only, when the wife of another is concerned, as he is the destroyer of another marriage. Laxity in the law leads necessarily to a laxity in practice. The Christian Church, which has no ban for the adulterer other than that of present laws, becomes a participator in his sin.”
Berl. Bib.: “The promise and not first the actual dwelling together constitutes the marriage before God.” Deu_22:25. Luther: “The city and field represent conditions; that, in which some help might be near, this when the cry would be ineffectual because unheard.” Deu_22:26. Richter: “What a lightning flash against all unchastity is the close of this verse!” Deu_22:27. How much helplessness in the world! How many vain cries for help! In this view human statutes, in regard to many a wretched one, should be mildly enforced.—Piscator: “Uncleanness is a dreadful sin, especially among Christians whose bodies should be temples of the Holy Ghost.” Deu_22:29. Richter: “They need not leave each other, as is now repeatedly the case.” Piscator: “He who had brought her to disgrace, should now cheerfully bring her to honor again.” Deu_22:30. Calvin: “Perhaps he looks to the act of Ham, who, publishing his father’s disgrace, betrays his own godlessness.” [Deu_22:23-27. Henry: “It is presumed that she consented, if it were done in the city, where help would have come had she cried—silence implies consent; if it were done in the field, it is presumed that she cried out; charity and equity require us to do so. It may be presumed that those willingly yield to temptation who do not use the means to avoid it, etc.”—A. G.].
Footnotes:
[2][Deu_22:15. הנער. Keri הנערה and so in Deu_22:16; Deu_22:21. Sept. παιδὸς. The Keri explains the reading: although, the text is doubtless genuine as the usage in the case is frequent, and a like idiom occurs in other Semitic languages.—A. G.].
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–24 21. the door of her father’s house] Not at…
21. the door of her father’s house] Not at the town’s gate (as in other cases, Deu_22:24, Deu_17:5), because it was her father’s house which she had dishonoured. Therefore instead of to play the harlot, etc., read with Sam. LXX. turning her father’s house into a harlot’s.
folly] Rather, senselessness.
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Heb. nebalah from nabal; ‘very difficult to render in English. “Fool” and “folly” are inadequate … The fault of the nabal is not weakness of reason, but moral and religious insensibility, a rooted incapacity to discern moral and religious relations, leading to an intolerant repudiation in practice of the claims which they impose … The cognate nabluth occurs Hos_2:10 (12) in the sense of immodesty. Senseless and senselessness may be suggested as fair English equivalents …’ (Driver).
folly in Israel] this phrase, implying the sense of a national ideal and standard, a national conscience, which is found in J, Gen_34:7, Jos_7:15, and in Jdg_20:6; Jdg_20:10, does not elsewhere occur in D, and is evidence (so far) that we have here an earlier law interpreted by D.
so shalt thou put away] See on Deu_13:6 (5); and introd. note to this law.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v23 Deu_22:23-27. PURITY OF THE BETROTHED.
Deu_22:23-27. PURITY OF THE BETROTHED.
(24) His neighbour’s wife.—It is evident from the language of this precept that a betrothed virgin in Israel is regarded as a wife. The man who humbles her “hath humbled his neighbour’s wife.” This illustrates the language of Matthew 1 Joseph, when Mary was found with child, sought to put her away (as though she were already his wife). The angel said to him, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife.” He “took unto him his wife.” From the construction of this law it follows that Jesus was the son of Joseph, according to the Scripture. The Evangelists do not seem to think it worth while to prove that He was the son of David except through his father (in law).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v22 Vers. 22-29. Four cases are here distinguished.
Vers. 22-29. Four cases are here distinguished.
1. That of a married woman who has been unfaithful; in this case both the woman and her paramour are, when detected, to be put to death (ver. 22).
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2. That of a virgin betrothed who is assailed in a town, where she might have cried for protection, but did not; in this case also both were to be punished with death as adulterers (vers. 23, 24).
3. That of a virgin betrothed who has been forcibly violated in the field, where, if she cried for help, her cry was in vain; in this case only the man should be liable to be put to death, whilst the woman was to be held innocent (vers. 25-27).
4. That of a virgin not betrothed with whom a man has had carnal intercourse; in this case the man should be required to pay a fine of fifty shekels of silver to the damsel"s father, and to take her to be his wife, from whom he could not be separated during life (vers. 28, 29).
Vers. 22-30. Various penalties for unchastity.
Purity in domestic life is at the root of national prosperity.
I THE NEGLECT OF VIRTUE"S SAFEGUARDS IS GUILT. (Ver. 24.) If a sentinel recklessly leave open a portal in the beleaguered city, it is treason; it is as if he had betrayed his king. To see a house on flame, and to give no warning, is to become accountable for the destruction of a city. To neglect the physician"s counsel in time of disease is to be guilty of death. So to make no resistance to the tempter is to court his approach. To go to the battle without sword, or spear, or shield is to invite defeat. Idle women may be said to tempt the devil.
II NEGLECT OF DUE PRECAUTIONS OFTEN LEADS TO A TERRIBLE SURPRISE. Oftentimes we underrate what strength the tempter has until we are in his clutches. So long as we knew temptation only by hearsay, we imagined it easy to escape or to overcome; but when brought suddenly under its subtle, wily influence, we are surprised how easily we are overcome.
III THE CONSENT OF THE WILL IS NEEDED TO CONSTITUTE A SIN. Whatever we are compelled to do by an external power, and against all the opposing force of our own will, this is not sin. Injury and loss may follow, but unless the will consents there is no moral culpability. The essence of sin lies in the inclination. A man may violate all the precepts of the Decalogue by a glance of his eye ay, by a volition of his will. Whether the overt act follow or not may depend on favorable or unfavorable outward circumstance. The same mischievous effects will not follow, but the sin is there. Therefore, "Keep thy heart with all diligence.
IV GENEROUS MINDS WILL PUT THE BEST POSSIBLE CONSTRUCTION ON HUMAN CONDUCT. (Ver. 27.) How generously minded a man may be, he is bound to be true. He cannot dissemble facts. He is under obligation to condemn the slightest sin. With the evil thing there must be no connivance. But if it be possible, with due regard to virtue, to give two interpretations on a deed, fairness to the doer requires that we give the interpretation the most favorable and generous. To a prisoner at the bar, the judge gives the full benefit of any doubt; and equal justice should be dealt to men in all our judgments upon them. If there be bright spots in their character and deeds, let us fasten our eyes upon these.
It will do us good. To search out the diseased parts of humanity, and to find secret pleasure in contemplating these moral sores, this will do us harm. As we measure our sentiments and judgments out to men, they will measure to us again. We may be blind to our own blemishes we usually are; but others will readily find them out; and if we are harsh and ungenerous in our estimate of men, they will return the treatment, perhaps with compound interest. It is wise, every day, to foster in our breast the charity "that believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv22–23 General Information:
General Information:
Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the word "you" is singular. (See: Forms of You)
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If a man is found
This can be stated in active form. AT: "If someone finds a man" (See: Active or Passive)
and you will remove
"in this way you will remove"
translationWords
die
evil
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv21, 24 22:21 by being promiscuous (literally acting as a prostitute):…
22:21 by being promiscuous (literally acting as a prostitute): A single act of sexual intercourse by an unmarried woman was enough to earn this disgraceful label and the death penalty.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.