Punishment for Rape – The Sixth Commandment

Punishment for Rape

The Sixth Commandment

Rape is as serious as murder.

Deuteronomy 22:25-27

“But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.”

Matthew 5:38-48

Here we see how the Law of God protects women. The only way judges could know that a betrothed woman had been assaulted in the open country would be by her testimony. She would be motivated to come forward in such a situation because, as a betrothed woman, her non-virgin status would soon enough be discovered, and then she might be subject to charges of whoring in Israel (Deut. 22:13-21).

Men, at the same time, would be motivated not to seduce young women “in the open country,” thinking that they might be able to get away with their dalliance. For what if the woman has a change of heart and claims she had been raped? The inclination of judges would be to defend her and to bring punishment upon the man.

The severity of the punishment for rape—the death penalty—would have also, in itself, served to protect women throughout the society. Rape was treated like premeditated murder, and the punishment is thus to be the same.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.