Re: Exodus 21:22
yoel haalmoni (core@rof.net)
Fri, 11 Apr 1997 22:40:27 -0600 (MDT)
>> yoel-
>>
>> vekhi yinatsu anashim venagfu ishah harah
>> and when will quarrel men and they will hit a woman
>> preganant
>>
>> veyatsu yeladeyhah velo yihiyeh ason
>> and will exit her children and not will be a disaster
>>
>> anosh yeanesh kaasher yashit alav
>> He will surely be punished as will determine against him
>>
>> baal haishah benatan biflilim
>> the husband of the woman as the giving of judges
>>
>> Veim ason yihiyeh venatatah nefesh tahat
> nefesh
>> and if a disaster there be you will give soul for soul
>>
>> ayin tahat ayin shen tahat shen yad tahat yad regel tahat regel
>> eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand leg for leg
>>
>> Kaviyah tahat kaviyah petsa tahat petsa haburah tahat haburah
>> scorch for scorch wound for wound bruise for bruise
>>
>> (tahat literally means under)
>>
>> I think it is talking about a premature birth, since no disaster occurs,
>> but I could be wrong. I am judging it by modern secular values which would
>> take into consideration both mother and child. Again- the text is not
>> clear. It is much less clear than the cities of Amon issue.
>>
>> The meaning would depend on what these primitive people's idea of disaster
>> is. It's sort of like the obscentity issue: "I'll know it when I see it."
>> Well, what exactly constitutes a disaster?
>>
>> Was it up to the father to decide? The courts? Was it the killing of the
>> mother? The child? It is extrememly vague.
>>
>>
>> yoel
>>
>Exodus 21:22 in the NIV Bible:
>"If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely
>but
>there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's
>husband
>demands and the court allows."
>
>Izz asks:
>Yoel, based on the Hebrew, is Ex 21:22 saying if no serious injury comes to
>the mother, a fine shall be paid, or is it saying that if no serious injury
>comes to the child, a fine shall be paid? In short, who does "serious injury"
>refer to?
yoel-
It's impossible to tell. The Hebrew does not say "serious injury"; it says
"disaster" which the KJV mistranslates as "mischief". The vague language
leaves it open for interpretation and hinders proper understanding of the
original meaning.
"when men quarrel and they hit a pregnant woman and her children come out
without there being a disaster he will surely be punished as the husband of
the woman determines against him in/as the giving of the judges."
Whatever that means! The translators themselves ad libbed it and anyone
reading the English is getting the personal interpretation of the
translator/s without knowing what was actually being commanded. The
translators themselves probably didn't want to admit ignorance and that the
Bible in some places is vague and the meaning is indescernible. All we know
is that in the first case men were fighting, a pregnant woman was hit, a
baby popped out, there was no disaster, the hitter was punished as
determined by the husband and the judges. In the second case, a disaster
did happen and equivalent physical punishment was meted out according to
the physical damage caused.
I suppose the verse could be saying that if the man accidentally hits the
woman and induces labour but all works out well, then the man only owes
recompense. But if the man hits the woman and ANYTHING goes wrong, then
harmful vengeance is justified.
But again- the language is too vague. No one alive on earth today can know
from the language what exactly the author had in mind, because it just is
not made clear. I am sure that there is a Jewish tradition as to what this
meant- but then, who knows when the tradition may have originated?
yoel