Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 22:28
If a man find a damsel [that is] a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
28, 29. Of Intercourse with a Virgin not Betrothed. The man shall pay a bride-price (see on Deu 22:22) and marry her without power of divorce. For seduction E, Exo 22:16 f., exacts the bride-price but the father may refuse his daughter to the man. Among the Tiyha Arabs the seducer of a woman pays the blood-price of two men; if he will marry her he must furnish the full bride-price (Musil, Ethn. Ber. 210).
lay hold on her ] Not the same vb as in Deu 22:25, usually explained as rape, but this is not certain.
and he be found ] So LXX. Heb. they is due to dittography.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
i.e. An unmarried man, as appears,
1. From his obligation to marry the person he abused, which it is not probable would have been imposed upon him, had he been married.
2. Because if the man had been married, this had been adultery, and so had been punished with death. Lay hold on her; which notes some kind of force or artifice, whereby she was overpowered; whereas Exo 22:16, she was enticed, which implies consent, and therefore the man doth here receive a greater punishment, because he used hostile violence towards her, which was the greater sin.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed,…. That is, meets with one in a field, which is not espoused to a man; and the man is supposed to be an unmarried man, as appears by what follows:
and lay hold on her, and lie with her, she yielding to it, and so is not expressive of a rape, as De 22:25 where a different word from this is there used; which signifies taking strong hold of her, and ravishing her by force; yet this, though owing to his first violent seizure of her, and so different from what was obtained by enticing words, professions of love, and promises of marriage, and the like, as in
Ex 22:16 but not without her consent:
and they be found; in the field together, and in the fact; or however there are witnesses of it, or they themselves have confessed, it, and perhaps betrayed by her pregnancy.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 28, 29:
This law deals with premarital sexual relations between a man and a woman not engaged or married. In this case, the man was required to marry the woman, and to pay a fine of fifty shekels of silver to her father. He was forbidden ever to divorce her, for any reason.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(4) DEFILEMENT OF A MAIDEN NOT BETROTHED (Deu. 22:28-29)
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; 29 then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsels father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; he may not put her away all his days.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 22:28, 29
381.
Read Exo. 22:16-17 to complete the record.
382.
Who is considered responsible in this circumstance?
383.
Is the girl to be considered innocent? What of love in this marriage.
AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 22:28, 29
28 If a man find a girl who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found,
29 Then the man who lay with her shall give to the girls father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her; he may not divorce her all his days.
COMMENT 22:28, 29
By comparing Exo. 22:16-17, it appears that the father might not accept the new son-in-lawbut he was still to accept the money. Her husband was not allowed to divorce her throughout their days.
In the case mentioned above it is not stated that the maiden was at fault in any wayonly what was to be done when the crime had been committed. She may (knowingly or unknowingly) have unduly tempted him. Or she may have been ignorant of his evil intentions. The book Scientific Illustrations states the latter case well:
Flamingoes are very shy and timid birds, and shun all attempts of man to approach them; the vicinity of animals, however, they disregard. Any one who is acquainted with this fact can take advantage of it by dressing himself up in the skin of a horse or an ox. Thus disguised, the sportsman may get close to them and shoot them down at his ease. They are taken in by appearances. Shy, beautiful, and harmless, the unfortunate bird meets destruction simply for want of wariness. Many a lovely human being with the like qualities has met her doom for want of the same trait.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Deu. 22:28-29.SEDUCTION.
See Exo. 22:16-17. The sin of seduction before marriage is punished by a heavy fine. We have recently amended our own laws in the direction of this very precept. But the fact that marriage was made compulsory in these cases makes the Law stricter still. It seems, however, from Exo. 22:17, that the girls father might forbid the marriage, though the seducer could not escape from it in any other way.
(30) See Lev. 18:7. A principle, not merely a precept, is implied here, as appears by the details of Leviticus 18
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
A Man Must Marry Permanently A Virgin Whom He Has Intercourse With ( Deu 22:28-29 )
Deu 22:28-29
‘ If a man find a young woman who is a of marriageable age, who is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days.’
Compare here Exo 22:16-17. Where a young unmarried woman was of marriageable age and could therefore be presumed to be a virgin (she was a bethulah) and a man forced on her sexual intercourse, (the impression given is of undue pressure, although no doubt it would apply anyway), then the man must pay compensation to her family of fifty shekels of silver which in Exo 22:16 is described as a dowry, and must marry her permanently with no right of divorce. It should be noted that this was both to protect the good name of her family, and to see to the young woman’s interests. The penalty was against the man. The woman would not be bound to marry him if she did not wish to do so in which case he would still have to pay the compensation (Exo 22:17). But society was such in those days that it was usually to her benefit to marry him.
It may seem strange to some that a woman should ever be married to the man who raped her. But we must understand the meaning of ‘lay hold of her and lay with her’. He may have been someone the woman knew well and was not necessarily averse to. His very action (in a society where everyone knew everyone else) demonstrated his deep feelings for her. There may therefore have been a willingness and readiness on her part. Indeed she may have encouraged it. Love did not necessarily play much part in the beginnings of most marriages in those days, and a young woman was expected to follow the directions and desires of her parents, even to the most unsuitable of suitors. Thus the young woman in these verses may actually have been luckier than most in marrying a man who really loved her. He would not necessarily brutalise her. And women did not then have the same expectations as today nor the same sense of their ‘rights’. They were trained to be submissive. Thus the prospect might not have appalled them as it appals us today. And there was always the opt out.
This example is a reminder to us that when a man and woman have intercourse God looks on it as putting them in a married state. They have been joined together as one flesh (compare 1 Corinthian Deu 6:16). They are one. Any subsequent sex with anyone else is therefore adultery.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 22:28-29
28If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered, 29then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he cannot divorce her all his days.
Deu 22:28 If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her Considering the early age at which Jewish girls were usually engaged, it seems to me this might be referring to (1) child abuse or (2) the abuse of poor families. The Mosaic covenant protects the under privileged and socially powerless!
Deu 22:29 the man… shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels. . .cannot divorce her If a father was too poor to have his daughter engaged or the girl was mentally incapacitated and a man defiled her, then he must pay for her and marry her for life (cf. Exo 22:16).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Exo 22:16, Exo 22:17
Reciprocal: Gen 34:12 – dowry