Seder 60: Does Exodus 21:22-25 Address the Issue of Abortion?

 Exodus 21:22-25 discusses a case where two men are fighting, the fight gets out of hand, and one of men strikes a pregnant woman, causing the contents of her womb to "come out."  If there is "no harm," the passage says, the one who struck the woman would pay a fine.  If there is harm, the man would be penalized appropriately, according to the "eye for an eye" principle.  

There are a number of questions about how to interpret the passage.  One is the question of what "no harm" means.  One possible interpretation is that the woman loses her baby, but no harm comes to the mother.  Another is that "no harm" means that both the mother and her baby are OK. 

People on both sides of today's abortion debate have appealed to this case in support of their positions.  Some in favor of abortion, taking the reading that the woman has a miscarriage, say that the man only pays a fine for the miscarriage but could potentially lose his life if the mother dies, suggesting that the woman's life is of greater inherent worth than the baby's.  

On the other hand, some who oppose aboration take the second reading, where the baby is born safely.  Arguing that "harm" means harm to either the mother or the baby, they conclude that both are treated as being of equal inherent worth in the passage.  

Based on my reading on the passage so far, it appears to me that this case doesn't really address the inherent worth of the mother or the baby.  This is not a case of premeditated murder, so the probable punishment for any harm would be a fine, even if both mother and baby die.  And the fine would likely have been assessed based on a perception of economic value rather than on the inherent worth of a human being.  

Some parallel cases in Hammurabi's Code (209-214) are instructive.  For example:

211.  If a woman of the free class loses her child by a blow, he shall pay five shekels in money.

212:  If this woman dies, he shall pay half a mina [about 30 shekels].  

A source that I have found helpful on this subject is an article by Joe M. Sprinkle in volume 55 of the Westminster Theological Journal (1997). 

Seder 60: Exodus 21 and Jeremiah 34---Israelite Servitude

 In the covenant code of Exodus 21-23, much attention is paid to guidelines for how to treat people who become indentured servants in order to work off a debt.  The Israelites had recently suffered in slavery in Egypt.  When God rescued them, he wanted them to be free to serve him, not some human master.  So he put guidelines in place to ensure that the Israelites would no longer be treated as slaves.  These guidelines also forbade an Israelite from trying to "play God" by being a slaveholder.

Centuries later, King Zedekiah of Judah led the inhabitants of Jerusalem in setting Hebrew servants free (Jer 34:8-10).  But then this covenant was cancelled and the servants were taken back (verse 11). 

In light of Israel's history, this was an especially grievous offense.  God rebuked Judah for this sin, which helped lead to the exile of the country's elite in Babylon (vv 11-22).  

Seder 60: Exodus 21-22---Applying the Decalogue in Ancient Context

 Exodus 21-23 give a series of examples that apply the principles of the Ten Commandment in ancient Israel's ancient Near Eastern context.  Some of the examples (Exod 21:1-22:17) are stated in the form "If ..., then ......"  These are called casuistic laws.  Later examples have the form "You should do x" or "You should not do y."  These are called apodictic laws. 

I have found Exodus 21 to be one of the most challenging passages of scripture.  The examples come from a historical and cultural context very different from ours, and so there is much to learn about that context in order to make sense of some of the cases.  Each case can be the source of an interesting discussion.

Exodus 21 begins with some examples involving servitude.  The Israelites had recently left a condition of slavery, and God will forbid them from subjecting anyone else to what the Egyptians had done to them. 

 The revelation in Exodus prohibits what we would usually call "slavery."  Stealing is forbidden in general, including in particular kidnapping people and selling them---what we call "human trafficking" (Exod 21:16).  Moreover, everyone in a household was to be allowed to rest every Sabbath (Exod 23:12).  

But when people became completely impoverished, there needed to be a way for them to survive.  The way discussed in Exodus 21 is a kind of indentured servitude, where an impoverished person would work for someone else for a set period of time.  

In some cases a family might become so poor that they could not afford a dowry for their daughter.  In that case they might arrange a marriage for the daughter as both a servant (presumably for some set period of time) and a wife.  Exod 21:7-11 is meant to protect a young woman in that situation.  

One unusual case appears in Exod 21:22, where two men are fighting and one accidentally strikes a pregnant woman, apparently causing her to give birth prematurely.  There is a large literature on this verse, trying to determine what it might have to say about the issue of abortion.  

Commentaries on this section of scripture contain helpful information like the following:

• A number of the examples in these chapters have parallels in ancient Near Eastern law codes.  One thing that distinguishes the Torah from these codes is that in general, the Torah places greater value on preserving life and less value on property than other ANE sources.  Also, the Torah is more egalitarian, not according greater value to elites as other codes do.  
• A number of examples mention the death penalty.  For crimes other than first-degree murder, death is a maximum penalty rather than a mandatory one--see verses 29-30 for an example.  This claim is based on Num 35:31, which specifies that capital punishment should not be replaced by a fine in the case of first-degree murder.  Implied then, is the idea that capital punishment can be replaced by a fine for other capital crimes.  (I first learned about this principle from Walter Kaiser's book Toward Old Testament Ethics.)
• The lex talionis ("an eye for an eye", etc.) is not about personal revenge.  Instead, it is the judicial principle that the punishment for a crime should fit the crime.  Only in the case of "life for life" has it been taken literally in Jewish law.  Verses 26-27 illustrate applications of the principle.  When a master causes serious injury to a worker, putting out an eye or a tooth, the worker is to be set free.  (This is one of the places where Exodus 21-22 differs from Hammurabi's Code, which states a literal application of "eye for an eye" in number 192.)  

Seder 60: Psalm 147---Reasons for Praise

 Psalm 147 gives a fourfold call to praise God (vv 1, 7. 12. 20) and brings out several reasons for doing so. 

God is praised first for Israel's restoration after exile, including the return of people from exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (vv 2-3).  This example dates the psalm as postexilic.  (The LXX and Vulgate associate Psalms 146-147 with Haggai and Zechariah.)  

The rebuilding and dedication of Jerusalem's walls under Nehemiah are discussed in Neh 6:15-7:3; 12:27-43.  Prophecies of rebuilding, covering this restoration and restoration yet to come, are given in Jer 31:38-40; Isa 60:17-18; 61:4-6; Isa 65:18.  Some examples of prophecies on regathering of people from exile are Deut 30:1-4; Isa 11:12. 

The midrash on Psalm 147 speculates on the identity of the "outcasts of Israel" in verse 2.  Along with people returning from exile, there is speculation about the futures of Korah and Achan. 

Additional reasons for praise are God's detailed knowledge of, power over, and care for his creation (vv 4-6, 8-9). He especially cares for people who fear him and put their trust in him (vv 10-11).  

In the Septuagint this psalm is divided into two separate psalms, with verses 1-11 in one and verses 12-20 in the second.  In the MT the two parts of Psalm 147 fit together well.  Verses 13-14, like verses 2-3, praise God for his care for Jerusalem.  Verses 15-18, like verses 4-5, 8-9, picture God's power as Creator. 

Finally, God is praised in verses 19-20 for revealing precious instruction to Israel.  These verses remind Christians of Paul's words in Romans 3:1-2: 

"Then what advantage has the Jew?  Or what is the value of the circumcision?  Much in every way.  To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God."

Christians from all nations are thankful to Israel for preserving God's Word and passing it down to us.