Abortion in the Bible

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Compiled by The BibleStudyTools Staff on 04/21/2020
Abortion in the Bible

Bible Verses about Abortion - What does scripture say about abortion? Did abortions ever happen in biblical times?

While the modern practice of abortion is far different from anything of the biblical era, there are occurrences of a failed pregnancy, either purposefully or not. One example of this is from Numbers 5:11-31 that describes the test of the adulterous wife. If a man was suspicious of his wife's fidelity, he would take her to the high priest, who would make a beverage for the woman to drink made from water and "dust from the tabernacle floor". Supposedly, if she had been unfaithful "her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry," and if she was innocent the drink had no effect.

As for the "pro-life" perspective, the 1st-century Christian text known as the Didache states: "do not murder a child by abortion or kill a new-born infant." Furthermore, Tertullian, a 3rd-century Christian theologian, contended that abortion should be conducted only in situations in which irregular positioning of the fetus in the womb would risk the life of the pregnant woman.

Discover the scripture examples and perspectives of abortion from the collection of Bible Verses below!

1 Corinthians 1:27

27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
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Deuteronomy 24:16

16 Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.
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Deuteronomy 30:19

Deuteronomy 30:19
19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live
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Galatians 1:15

15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased
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Isaiah 43:25

25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
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Isaiah 44:24

24 “This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself,
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Ephesians 1:7

Ephesians 1:7 NIV
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
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Exodus 4:11

11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
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Isaiah 64:8

8 Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
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Jeremiah 1:5

Your Daily Verse - Jeremiah 1:5
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
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Psalms 100:3

3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
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Psalms 127:3

Children Heritage
3 Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.
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Luke 2:6-7

6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
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Ephesians 1:3-4

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
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1 Corinthians 6:19-20

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
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Isaiah 45:9-11

9 “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?
10 Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’
11 “This is what the LORD says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?
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Exodus 21:22-25

22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows.
23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life,
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
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Psalms 139:13-16

Mother's Womb
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
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Luke 1:41-44

Luke 1:41
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!
43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
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Exodus 20:1-13

Honor your father and mother!
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
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