Exodus 21:22

_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._ If men strive, and hurt a woman with child. This is a casualty that must frequently have happened, with or without bad consequences to the wife, whose concern for her husband's safety might have led her, at great risk to herself, to interpose for the separation of the combatants. So that her fruit depart from her, [ _ wªyaatsª'uw_ (H3318 ) _ yªlaadeyhaa_ (H3206 ); Septuagint, kai exelthee to paidion autees, and yet no mischief follow, [ _ wªlo'_ (H3808 ) _ yihªyeh_ (H1961 ) _ 'aacown _ (H611 ); Septuagint,

22._If men strive_, _and hurt a woman_. This passage at first sight is ambiguous, for if the word death (39) only applies to the pregnant woman, it would not have been a capital crime to put an end to the _foetus_, which would be a great absurdity; for the _foetus_, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being, (_homo_,) and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a _foetus _in the womb before it has come to light. On these grounds I am led to conclude, without hesitation, that the words, “if death should follow,” must be applied to the _foetus _as well as to the mother. Besides, it would be by no means reasonable that a fat

22-36 The cases here mentioned give rules of justice then, and still in use, for deciding similar matters. We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by us....

Verse Exodus 21:22. _AND HURT A WOMAN WITH CHILD_] As a _posterity_ among the Jews was among the peculiar promises of their covenant, and as every man had some reason to think that the Messiah should spring from _his_ family, therefore any injury done to a woman with child, by which the fruit of her womb might be destroyed, was considered a very heavy offence; and as the crime was committed principally against the husband, the degree of punishment was left to _his_ discretion. But _if mischief followed_, that is, if the child had been fully formed, and was killed by this means, or the woman lost her life in consequence, then the punishment was as in other cases of murder - the person was put to death; Exodus 21:23....

The rule would seem to refer to a case in which the wife of a man interfered in a quarrel. This law, “the jus talionis,” is elsewhere repeated in substance, compare the marginal references. and Genesis 9:6. It has its root in a simple conception of justice, and is found in the laws of many ancient nations. It serves in this place as a maxim for the magistrate in awarding the amount of compensation to be paid for the infliction of personal injury. The sum was to be as nearly as possible the worth in money of the power lost by the injured person. Our Lord quotes Exodus 21:24 as representing the form of the law, in order to illustrate the distinction between the letter and the spirit Matthew 5:38. The tendency

EXPOSITION THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT.—_Continued_. I. _Laws connected with the rights of persons_ (Exodus 21:1). The regulations of this section concern— 1. Slavery (Exodus 21:2); 2. Murder and other kinds of homicide (Exodus 21:12-2 and Exodus 21:20, Exodus 21:21); 3. Man-stealing ...

IF MEN STRIVE,.... Quarrel and fight with one another, which is to be understood of Hebrews, as Aben Ezra observes: AND HURT A WOMAN WITH CHILD; who being the wife of one of them, and also an Israelitish woman, interposes to part them, or help her husband; but the other, instead of striking his antagonist as he intended, gives her a blow: SO THAT HER FRUIT DEPART FROM HER; or, "her children go forth" z, out of her womb, as she may have more than one; through the fright of the quarrel, and fear of her husband being hurt, and the blow she received by interposing, might miscarry, or, falling into labour, come before her time, and bring forth her offspring sooner than expected: AND YET NO MISCHIEF FOLLOW: to her, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra restrain it to the woman; and which mischief they interpret of death, as does also the Targum of Onkelos; but it may refer...

CHAPTER 21 DIFFERENT JUDGMENTS _ 1. Master and servant (Exodus 21:1)_ 2. Concerning injury to the person (Exodus 21:12) 3. Concerning property (Exodus 21:33) The Three Chapter s which follow the giving of the Ten Commandments give the practical application of the Decalogue in the daily life. The duties towards the fellowman are demonstrated in part. There are seven sections to these three Chapter s; each section contains ten precepts. The servant occupies the first place. He was to obtain his freedom for nothing after serving six years. In Deuteronomy we read that the master is commanded not to let him go empty-handed, but give him of his flock, his threshing floor and his winepress.

EXODUS 21:18 E. INJURIES. If one man injures another in a quarrel (Exodus 21:18), he must, on the recovery of the other, compensate him for the loss of time and pay his doctor's bill (Exodus 21:19). He who beat a slave to death must pay a penalty (Exodus 21:20), no doubt fixed at the judge's discretion; but only if death was immediate (Exodus 21:21). If two men quarrelling injured the wife of one of them intervening and brought on a miscarriage without permanent injury, her husband could levy a fine ...

CHILD... SO. Figure of speech _Ellipsis_ (App-6); supply "who intervenes". PUNISHED. amerced, or fined. The laws of Khammurabi distinguished between three classes (§§209, 211, 213). Here it is _any_ woman. See App-15....