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Exodus 21:22–25
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life” (Ex. 21:22–23).
Physical harm inflicted by one human being on another is the focus of Exodus 21:18–27, and this portion of the Book of the Covenant prescribes penalties and compensation in the case of injury. Thus far, we have considered the compensation owed to slaves and freemen in case of injury (vv. 18–21, 26–27). Today’s passage addresses what to do when harm is done to a pregnant woman. In so doing, the text gives us important teaching on the issue of abortion as well as a key principle to follow in all cases in which harm is done.
Exodus 21:22–25 is one of the harder Old Testament passages to translate into English. Yet the sense of the text is clear enough. The case law considers injury to a pregnant woman who is a bystander when two men are fighting and is struck by one of the men in such a way that the strike causes “her children [to] come out”—childbirth(v. 22). If all that happens is the birth and the woman and child or children born are not otherwise harmed, the husband gets to demand that the man who hit his wife pay his family a fine. If, on the other hand, the woman and children are harmed or killed, then judges must impose a more severe penalty. The standard applied is the so-called lex talionis: “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (vv. 23–25).
Many people see the lex talionis as cruel, but it actually helps ensure that cruel and unusual punishment does not occur. The basic point is that the punishment for a crime should be proportionate to the offense, neither harsher nor more lenient than is due. Without it, great injustice is possible. Severe crimes will not be punished strictly enough and light crimes will be punished too harshly. Moreover, the principle is universal. This is the same standard to be applied whether the criminal is of high or low social standing. Also, it is not intended to be applied in a strictly literal fashion except in the case of murder. That was the only time a ransom could not be accepted in lieu of injuring an offender in exactly the same manner that he had hurt someone (Num. 35:31). The lex talionis established a maximum penalty that could be adjusted or substituted depending on the circumstances of the offense—unless the offense was murder.
The application of the lex talionis when an unborn child is harmed demonstrates that God views that child as fully human and worthy of the same protections as a person harmed after birth. Since this is so, then abortion on demand is an especially heinous evil.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
John Calvin comments on today’s passage: “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 fetus in the womb before it has come to light.” Abortion on demand is a grave wickedness, and we must do what we can to make it illegal and to come alongside women and give them the help they need not to have abortions.
For Further Study
- Psalms 127:3–4
- Psalms 139:13–16
- Matthew 19:13–15
- Luke 18:15–17