And the elders of that city shall take the man, and chastise him. Not with words, but blows. Jarchi interprets it of beating, and so does the Talmud F24 T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 46. 1. ; and both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it,"shall beat him;' that is, with the beating or scourging of forty stripes, save one. read more
And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver ,.... Which was about twelve pounds of our money; this was double the dowry he would have been obliged to have given her, if he had put her away; which he might have done with less trouble, and with a greater certainty of being rid of her; but being willing to save that expense, took this wicked method to accuse her falsely; and therefore is fined double that sum: and give them unto the father of the damsel ; as a sort of... read more
Verse 18 18.And the elders of that city shall take that man. Calumny in this case received a threefold punishment; first, that he, who had invented the false accusation, should be beaten with stripes; secondly, that he should pay an hundred pieces of silver to the father of the girl; thirdly, that he should never be allowed to put her away; and tie reason is given, “because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel.” God here shows Himself to be the protector of virgins, that... read more
Divine care for sexual honor. In these, as in so many of the precepts of this book, we find civil precepts invested with religious sanctions. Nothing is more important for the honorable maintenance of social life, than that both men and women should honor each other's sex as well as their own. Those that do otherwise are an abomination to the Lord their God. There are five or six different cases supposed in the verses referred to at the heading of this Homily: Such sins would have been... read more
Slander, unchastity, and fraud. No blame can lie against the Scriptures because they legislate on such detestable matters. The blame must lie at the door of depraved humanity, which perpetrates such deeds and makes Divine legislation necessary. The obscenity appertains to the vices, only praise belongs to the remedy. I. A WOMAN 'S CHASTITY IS HER MAIN DOWRY FOR LIFE . If she possess not this virtue, she is worse than worthless; she is a plague and a pest—a moral... read more
The laws in this section have the design of fostering purity and fidelity in the relation of the sexes, and also of protecting the female against the malice of sated lust and the violence of brutal lust. read more
Chastity. The Mosaic Law is strict and stern in its requirement of purity in all that pertains to the marriage relation. Its strictness, however, is united with a fine sense of justice, and its shield is, as usual, extended for the protection of the innocent. I. THE DEFAMED WIFE . ( Deuteronomy 22:13-19 .) No act can be conceived more cruel or dastardly than that of a man who groundlessly assails his wife's character, accusing her of ante-nuptial unchastity. As the matter was... read more
Expedients to secure purity. We have here various wise expedients to control the licentiousness of the people, and secure, so far as possible, social purity. I. DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER WAS SEVERELY PUNISHED . A husband could not, with impunity, defame a newly married wife; for should there be proof forthcoming that his charge was false, he was to be publicly chastised, to pay a fine of one hundred shekels of silver to his father-in-law, whoso good name and peace he had... read more
The fine was to be paid to the father, because the slander was against him principally as the head of the wife’s family. If the damsel were an orphan the fine reverted to herself. The fact that the penalties attached to bearing false witness against a wife are fixed and comparatively light indicates the low estimation and position of the woman at that time. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 22:13-30
These laws relate to the seventh commandment, laying a restraint by laying a penalty upon those fleshly lusts which war against the soul. I. If a man, lusting after another woman, to get rid of his wife slander her and falsely accuse her, as not having the virginity she pretended to when he married her, upon the disproof of his slander he must be punished, Deut. 22:13-19. What the meaning of that evidence is by which the husband's accusation was to be proved false the learned are not agreed,... read more