Exodus 21:22: Translations
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King James:
If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from
her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according
as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges
determine.
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Revised
Standard : When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so
that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt
her shall be fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him;
and he shall pay as the judges determine.
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New International (NIV): 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.
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New English Translation (NET):
And if men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely,
but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance
with what the woman's husband will put on him, and he will pay what the
court decides.
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OTHERS: The Bible Gateway
| Blueletter Bible
Various
Religious Denominations' Views on Abortion
Exodus 21:22: Interpretations
My own opinion (LH): The NIV translation is
makes no sense. "No harm no foul" -- plus the suggestion that
the passage concerns men fighting with each other when a pregnant
woman happens to get in the way, gets accidentally struck, and goes
into labor seems far-fetched; not exactly something crying out for legistation.
Abortion on the other hand is not far-fetched and seems just the sort of
thing that does cry out for legislation. The King
James and Revised Standard interpretations are more sensible: they take
"strive" in this passage to mean "endeavor" or "seek", and the scenario
is not the far-fetched one of men fighting and accidently striking a pregnant
bystander, but men endeavoring to cause a woman to miscarry, striving,
in other words, to perform an abortion. The implication --
since the punishment specified is an (optional) fine and the penalty specified
for murder (in a passage immediately preceding) is death -- would be that
abortion is not murder in the eyes of the author(s) of these laws.
Miscarriage naturally involves the death of the fetus and the harm in question
here is solely to the woman. (Foreseeing -- and not wanting to admit
this implication -- I surmise is what leads the NIV and NET -- to translate
this passage according to the dictates of their translators' own
personal "pro-life" persuasions. The NET -- in a note accompanying
this passage -- even explicitly cites the fact of the punishment being
a fine as a reason for preferring the "born prematurely" reading!)
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