Deuteronomy 22:25

25 “But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man must die.

Deuteronomy 22:25 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 22:25

But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field
Alone, and where she might cry out, and none hear, nor were any to help her:

and a man force her, and lie with her;
or "take fast and strong hold on her" ^F2; so that she is not able to get out of his hands, and make her escape, he being stronger than she, and so commits a rape upon her:

then the man only that lay with her shall die;
he being guilty of adultery, in lying with a woman espoused to another man, but not she, because she consented not to it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (hb qyzxhw) "et apprehenderit (in) eam", Pagninus, Montanus; "et apprehendens eam", Piscator.

Deuteronomy 22:25 In-Context

23 “Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town,

24 you must take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man’s wife. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.

25 “But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man must die.

26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of death. She is as innocent as a murder victim.

27 Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.