Deuteronomy 22:26

26 And the damsel has not a sin worthy of death; as if a man should rise up against his neighbour, and slay him, so this thing;

Deuteronomy 22:26 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 22:26

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:

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 ^F3 concludes, that impurities, incests, and adulteries, are equal to murder, to capital cases relating to life and death.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Hilchot Yesode Hattorah, c. 5. sect. 10.

Deuteronomy 22:26 In-Context

24 ye shall bring them both out to the gate of their city, and they shall be stoned with stones, and they shall die; the damsel, because she cried not in the city; and the man, because he humbled his neighbour's spouse: so shalt thou remove the evil one from yourselves.

25 But if a man find in the field a damsel that is betrothed, and he should force her and lie with her, ye shall slay the man that lay with her only.

26 And the damsel has not a sin worthy of death; as if a man should rise up against his neighbour, and slay him, so this thing;

27 because he found her in the field; the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to help her.

28 And if any one should find a young virgin who has not been betrothed, and should force and lie with her, and be found,

Footnotes

• [a] his life.