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.
23 And if any
mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for
foot,
25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for
stripe.
As insidious as it may seem, this scripture
has been promoted by pro-abortionists to prove that the unborn child was
irrelevant, the “mischief” applying only to the pregnant woman. If that
postulant were true, then the subject matter would apply to all persons, and not just pregnant
females. Why would God make the distinction that this inferred justice would
apply only to pregnant women, if the added subject of the unborn child was
merely happenstance?
“Mischief” is the English word
used by the translators of the Bible to describe the Hebrew word “ason” meaning
to injure, damage or harm.
The subject starts out with men
striving against a pregnant woman. Striving in this verse means to fight or contend with. Hence, “If men fight or contend with a pregnant woman
(not just any woman, but a pregnant one
and manage to hurt her, thereby causing
her fruit (her unborn child) to depart from her,” we now have the subject matter
expanded: it is all about the baby. What about the baby? One of two things. “Mischief
or harm followed or it didn’t. The woman has been hurt, not killed. That is already
established.
She has already in either one of
two cases been hurt. And one of two
things has resulted from her being hurt or injured. She has been hurt to the extent that her
unborn child dies or she has been hurt to the extent that her unborn child does
not die. This is why the scripture is dealing with a pregnant woman and not
just any woman. In any case, whether a woman is pregnant or not, the justice “life for
life” would apply. But since God is considering specifically the plight of a pregnant
woman, God is interested in what to do to those causing the injury or death of the child.
If the unborn child dies, then
the punishment is life for life. If the child does not die, then it is eye for
an eye, tooth for tooth, etc.
Clearly, this scripture is a
voice for an anti-abortion position.
Noteworthy is the fact that God
in other scripture deals with taking a life in general.
Leviticus
24:17
And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it
good; beast for beast.
19 And if a man cause a blemish in his
neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;
20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
"Man" in this verse would refer to
any living human being. But what about unborn babies? The scripture in Exodus
21 handles that situation.
The scripture explains that those
who would hurt a pregnant woman to the extent she miscarries, and the aborted baby
is hurt or dies, then the justice to be meted out for the injury to the aborted baby is
life for life, tooth for tooth, etc.
