But 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; but 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; for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her.
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Deuteronomy 22:25-27 sits inside this longer paragraph.
If 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. If 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, then 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. But 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; but 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; for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her. If 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, then 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. A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.
Parallel Translations
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But 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;
but 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;
for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her.
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But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:
But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:
For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
Show all 3 translations
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But if the man find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man take hold of her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die.
But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death; for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter.
For he found her in the field; the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
Cross-references (3)
- 2 Samuel 13:14 (v25) However he would not listen to her voice; but being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her.
- Deuteronomy 21:22 (v26) If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
- 1 Corinthians 13:7 (v27) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (9 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v26 Meaning, that the innocent cannot be punished.
Meaning, that the innocent cannot be punished.
Or, no sin worthy of death.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On v25 Deu 22:25 But if a man find a betrothed…
Deu 22:25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:
Ver. 25. And the man force her, and lie with her.] It was a speech of Charles V, emperor, If that impure fellow, Farnesius, who being the Pope’s general, had forced many fair ladies, were here present, I would kill him with mine own hand. Nec vocem iracundiorem unquam ex Carolo auditam ferunt. {a} Never was he heard to speak so angrily. The Lacedemonian commonwealth was utterly ruined by a rape committed on the two daughters of Scedasus at Leuctra.
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{a} Parei, Hist. Prof. Medulla.
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 vv25–27 The man force her; which was to be examined…
The man force her; which was to be examined and determined by the consideration of all the circumstances.
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 vv25–27 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing,.... Neither…
But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing,.... Neither fine her, nor beat her, and much less punish her with death:
there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death; because what was done to her was done without her will and consent, and was what she was forced to submit unto; but the Targum of Jonathan adds, that the man to whom she was betrothed might dismiss her from himself by a bill of divorce:
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for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter; as when a man comes unawares upon another, and lays hold on him, and kills him, being stronger than he, and none to help; so is the case of a woman laid hold on by a man in a field, and ravished by him, where no help could be had; and depriving a woman of her chastity is like taking away a man's life; from this passage Maimonides (c) concludes, that impurities, incests, and adulteries, are equal to murder, to capital cases relating to life and death.
(c) Hilchot Yesode Hattorah, c. 5. sect. 10.
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 vv26–27 Even so - Not an act of choice, but…
Even so - Not an act of choice, but of force and constraint.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v25 Verse 25. And the man force her] A rape…
Verse 25. And the man force her] A rape also, by these ancient institutions, was punished with death, because a woman's honour was considered equally as precious as her life; therefore the same punishment was inflicted on the ravisher as upon the murderer. This offence is considered in the same point of view in the British laws, and by them also it is punished with death.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v25 Hold. Septuagint, "offering violence," as also [in] ver. 28.…
Hold. Septuagint, "offering violence," as also [in] ver. 28. (Haydock) --- Die. Moses supposes that the woman in the field had made all possible resistance, and that the one in the city had, by silence at least, consented. But if the case were otherwise, the judges were to make all necessary inquiries, and pass sentence accordingly. (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).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv25–27 25. But if in the field the man find,…
25. But if in the field the man find, etc.] So the emphatic Heb. order. Field here in its wider and probably earlier sense, of the uncultivated, therefore uninhabited, land. So Deu_22:27, Deu_21:1.
force] Rather, seize, lay hold of, as in Deu_25:11.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v25 the engaged girl
the engaged girl
This means a girl whose parents have agreed to let her marry a certain man, but the girl has not married him yet.
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then only the man who sleeps with her must die
"then you must only kill the man who slept with her"
there is no sin worthy of death in the girl
"you are not to punish her by killing her for what she did"
For this case is like when a man attacks his neighbor and kills him
"Because this situation is like the situation when somebody attacks another person and kills him"
For he found her in the field
"Because the man found the girl working in the field"
translationWords
seize
sin
die
neighbor
save
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.