Deuteronomy 22:26

26 and vnto the damsell thou shalt doo no harme: because there is in the damsell no cause of deeth. For as when a man ryseth agenste his neyghboure and sleyeth him, eue so is this matter.

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 then ye shall brynge them both out vnto the gates of that same citie and shall stone them with stones to deeth: The damsell because she cried not beynge in the citie: And the man, because he hath humbled his neyghbours wife, and thou shalt put awaye evell from the.

25 But yf a man finde a betrothed damsell in the felde and force her and leye with her: The the man that laye with her shall dye alone,

26 and vnto the damsell thou shalt doo no harme: because there is in the damsell no cause of deeth. For as when a man ryseth agenste his neyghboure and sleyeth him, eue so is this matter.

27 For he founde her in the feldes and the betrothed damsell cried: but there was no ma to succoure her.

28 Yf a man finde a mayde that is not betrothed ad take her ad lye with her ad be founde: