The sixth commandment

Deuteronomy 22.25-27

“But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.”

Matthew 5.38-48

Here we see how the Law of God protects women. The only way judges could know that a betrothed woman had been assaulted in the open country would be by her testimony. She would be motivated to come forward in such a situation because, as a betrothed woman, her non-virgin status would soon enough be discovered, and then she might be subject to charges of whoring in Israel (Deut. 22.13-21).

Men, at the same time, would be motivated not to seduce young women “in the open country,” thinking that they might be able to get away with their dalliance. For what if the woman has a change of heart and claims she had been raped? The inclination of judges would be to defend her and to bring punishment upon the man.

The severity of the punishment for rape – the death penalty – would also, in itself, serve to protect women throughout the society. Rape was treated like premeditated murder, and the punishment is thus to be the same.

This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.