How would a Christian defend these 2 bible excerpt on rape?

Question

Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NLT)



If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her.

I'm pretty sure a rape victim wouldn't ever want to marry their attacker, so why is this ok?


(Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB)



If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife.


It seems that the woman is a piece of property, and in some instances, a rape victim cannot cry out no matter where they are for fear of death or the rapist has threatened harm on the people they love that could hear their cries if they did cry out. Why was the victim murdered?

To address the 2nd answer, I'm not trying to stir the pot or show immaturity at all. I was asking a simple question to get clarity on a point to something I was unsure about. Nothing in my question was offensive unless highly sensitive people want to make it that way. If I had meant to stir up emotions, I would have asked, " How could someone be so stupid as to believe in a god who would allow this?" But that was not my question because I want a true answer that shed some light on why a god who loves his people so much would allow rape, and even go so far as to punish a victim of rape.

Please actually answer questions with at least an opinion of value, not give some random excuse as to why my question can't be answered because it was "taken out of context." That's the point of an excerpt, which you should know with your MASSIVE IQ.

I also was unaware of which Testament these passages came from, I forwarded them by a friend. Thanks for your answers!

Answer 1

Sorry but I am going to answer this in reverse so i'll answer the second one first and then the more important first one second... Hope that doesn't already confuse you :)

The second is easy to answer because the second exerpt you have here is not rape. They simply engaged in relations that were unlawful. She is also guilty of adultery. In this case if she was unable to scream she would not have been stoned. She could have screamed for help after, or in equal terms she would have told her husband etc. So in this case they both are guilty and stoning them is consistent with the punishment of the times.

The first exerpt you may be interested to know is from the hebrew word " `innah " which translated as best in english means "he had his way with her" or "he violated her" and this is said because the woman is described as a virgin, although virgin here refers to her age (translated from hebrew virgin [bethulah]also means young maiden, [the hebrews used the same word] and this is a different word from that describing that the birth of the messiah would be of a virgin [`almah] this word is very literal) and also premarital sex. This is well documented in studies of the hebrew translation. We know for sure it is not rape because all scholars have agreed the definition of rape is given just prior this and the man is stoned only.

So in the actual description of a man raping a woman the hebrew translation is "and the man forces her and lies with her" (wehecheziq bah ha'ish weshakab `immah), while this verse you quote translated is "and seizes her and lies with her" (wetephasah weshakab `immah), and knowing the context they are written in and the hebrew language it has been detemined that this is not rape, it is a violation of a woman who is not betrothed with her consent. For this violation he has to pay money to the father and must also marry her and cannot divorce.

I hope this answers your question, I included the Hebrew so if you feel so inclined you may look for yourself.

PS. don't worry i took your question seriously and did not think it immature or trying to poke a hole or whatever. I hope this is helpful though :)

Answer 2

part 1 - The girl has value to her father and the labor that she provided to the household, which is why when she is married there is payment to the father because he loses the value of her labor. If she is raped then she won't be wanted as a wife and thus the rapist must pay the father for her labor. The rapist is also reponsible for providing for her needs and by marrying her he has to provide for her.

part 2 - this is implying that the woman who was engaged to be married to someone else willingly had sex with this man, and that by being in the city if she would have cried out for help there would have been plenty of help. She was stoned because she willingly did this, and in this case I don't think this was a rape.

It isn't as much as the woman is a piece of property but in some of the old testament scriptures that might be the implication but that there is a price for the woman's labor.

it took me a while to think about all this. hope this helps.

Answer 3

This is 2006. I can't account to what happened during biblical times. I'm not positive that the bible has been translated correctly. I believe in the Bible so long a it is translated correctly. The King James version was translated during the rein of King James by about 50 men. It has been reworked many other times. Some scriptures are missing some have been discarded. You people really are aware of sexual passages that I'm not aware of or care about. The bible was written of the history of the time. It is best if you read the history of Christianity and get an idea of religion throughout time. None of it is any prettier than history since time began. So, what good is it to bash and hash it over and over again. We still need to take care that we keep ourselves from sin. If you sin I can't account for your sin either. If someone was sinning in the Bible they will surely pay for their own sin. Nothing you or I can do about it. Lets worry about what we can control. Past is past.

Answer 4

I haven't confirmed these passages, but I'll take your word for it.

First of all, I bet "rape" probably refers to sexual relations and not an actual rape. So if a man has sexual relations with a mans daughter, he must make her his wife, and she indulged with him, so she must take him as a husband.

As far as the second passage goes, I am sure the meaning is to be take not so literally. "did not cry out" probably really means to "not protest", or "did not resist".

But still, being stoned to death does seem pretty harsh. If I am wrong and rape really does mean rape, then I don't know what to say, but I bet it doesn't. Maybe something was lost in the King James translation, its possible.

Answer 5

They cant and most don't. Many of the things that are in the old testiment are told in the context of what was culturally acceptable thousands of years ago.

Why can you not figure it out with YOUR massive IQ?
"Why a god who loves his people so much would allow rape, and even go so far as to punish a victim of rape?"
Because men rape, not god and men wrote the bible, not god.

Answer 6

1 - she is forced to marry the man because no one else would marry a non virgin. How many woman today remain virgins until marriage

2) you need to read the next few verses - the woman is killed if it happened in a city, because it is assumed she did not scream for help, thus she is a slut. If it happened in the country, it is assumed that she did scream, and no one is around to help.

how about real tough questions?

Answer 7

I'd say any Christian that lives by the laws in the Old Testament instead of the New Testament isnt a Christian at all. That's the whole purpose of the New Testament

Answer 8

Old Testament law, kiddo, given to the Hebrews as they were wandering toward the Promised Land and subject to all sorts of temptations from the surrounding peoples.

Answer 9

The bible is a man made creation. So you have to "take it with a grain of salt". If you really believe in the bible, then God is the worlds worst murderer who has killed millions and Satan is only guilty of giving Jobe a rash. Actually, isnt satan a teacher in the bible? He gave us knowledge of good and evil... Something that murderer did not want us to have...

Answer 10

Because she was a lowly woman who brought shame to her family. I know it's stupid reasoning...