{"id":692,"date":"2009-02-09T12:55:40","date_gmt":"2009-02-09T12:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/02\/does-the-old-testament-de-valu.html"},"modified":"2009-02-09T12:55:40","modified_gmt":"2009-02-09T12:55:40","slug":"does-the-old-testament-de-valu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/02\/does-the-old-testament-de-valu.html","title":{"rendered":"Does the Old Testament De-Value Fetuses?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paging pro-life Bible scholars. What are we make of this passage of Exodus (21:22-25) (hat tip: Pagan blog<\/a>):<\/p>\n

And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him; and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“A Pagan’s Blog” notes:<\/a><\/p>\n

“Violently causing a miscarriage is punished by a fine, and an uncertain one at that. Every other injury is compensated by the principle “an eye for an eye.” If the mother is accidentally killed, the responsible party is still executed. But if she miscarries, only a fine is levied.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\nUPDATE: This is one of those situations in which the translation makes a big difference.
\nKing James:<\/a>
\n22 “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”
\nNew American Bible (Catholic):<\/a>
\n“When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury, the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman’s husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of the judges.”
\nToday’s New International Version:<\/a>
\n22 “If people are fighting and a pregnant woman is hit and 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.”
\nNew King James<\/a>
\n22 “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”
\nHebrew Bible in English, JPS 1917<\/a>
\n22 “And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paging pro-life Bible scholars. What are we make of this passage of Exodus (21:22-25) (hat tip: Pagan blog): And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nDoes the Old Testament De-Value Fetuses? - Steven Waldman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/02\/does-the-old-testament-de-valu.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does the Old Testament De-Value Fetuses? - Steven Waldman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Paging pro-life Bible scholars. What are we make of this passage of Exodus (21:22-25) (hat tip: Pagan blog): And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/02\/does-the-old-testament-de-valu.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Steven Waldman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-02-09T12:55:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"swaldman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does the Old Testament De-Value Fetuses? - Steven Waldman","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/02\/does-the-old-testament-de-valu.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does the Old Testament De-Value Fetuses? - Steven Waldman","og_description":"Paging pro-life Bible scholars. 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