Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 22:25

But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:

25. But if in the field the man find, etc.] So the emphatic Heb. order. Field here in its wider and probably earlier sense, of the uncultivated, therefore uninhabited, land. So Deu 22:27, Deu 21:1.

force ] Rather, seize, lay hold of, as in Deu 25:11.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 25. And the man force her] A rape also, by these ancient institutions, was punished with death, because a woman’s honour was considered equally as precious as her life; therefore the same punishment was inflicted on the ravisher as upon the murderer. This offence is considered in the same point of view in the British laws, and by them also it is punished with death.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The man force her; which was to be examined and determined by the consideration of all the circumstances.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field,…. Alone, and where she might cry out, and none hear, nor were any to help her:

and a man force her, and lie with her; or “take fast and strong hold on her” b; so that she is not able to get out of his hands, and make her escape, he being stronger than she, and so commits a rape upon her:

then the man only that lay with her shall die; he being guilty of adultery, in lying with a woman espoused to another man, but not she, because she consented not to it.

b “et apprehenderit (in) eam”, Pagninus, Montanus; “et apprehendens eam”, Piscator.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 25-27:

This precept concerns a case of forcible rape of an engaged woman, in a “field,” or away from human habitation. In this case, the man only was to be put to death. The woman was considered innocent, for had she cried out her cries would have gone unheard. The crime was regarded on a par with murderer.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Dealing With The Rape of a Betrothed Woman ( Deu 22:25-27 ).

Deu 22:25-27

‘ But if the man find the young woman who is betrothed in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die, but to the young woman you shall do nothing. There is in the young woman no sin worthy of death. For as when a man rises against his neighbour, and murders him, even so is this matter, for he found her in the field, the betrothed young woman cried out, and there was none to save her.’

However, where the intercourse with the betrothed woman took place in the open country it was to be accepted that the man had forced her and that the woman would have cried out, but that no one heard. Only the man was then to be put to death. The woman was free from guilt. It was a similar case to murder. The guilty party would be seen as having ensured that he did it where no one would know, while she would be seen as the unwilling victim. Thus the woman was considered as having not been able to do anything about it, and therefore as innocent.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Deu 22:25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:

Ver. 25. And the man force her, and lie with her. ] It was a speech of Charles V, emperor, If that impure fellow, Farnesius, who being the Pope’s general, had forced many fair ladies, were here present, I would kill him with mine own hand. Nec vocem iracundiorem unquam ex Carolo auditam ferunt. a Never was he heard to speak so angrily. The Lacedemonian commonwealth was utterly ruined by a rape committed on the two daughters of Scedasus at Leuctra.

a Parei, Hist. Prof. Medulla.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)