Why should a premature birth require a penalty? (Exodus 21:22–23)
22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely[e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, [e] Exodus 21:22 Or she has a miscarriage
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Asked November 10 2018
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
In my opinion, the fine is associated with the idea that even babies with no specific prenatal birth defects who are born prematurely face increased danger from the birth process itself, and then (if they survive birth) require special care, even under the best of circumstances, and even more so in Biblical times, compared to the modern day. Because their prenatal development has been interrupted, they are especially prone to difficulty. Pre-term babies often can't breast feed, and there can be respiratory problems leading to permanent brain damage. The fine represents reimbursement for the expense of an untimely birth, and punitive damages for the serious trauma.
Jay Saunders
This is about a premature birth caused by a violent act or altercation. This could also be a civil court case today. Sharon Tate was a victim of the Charles Manson gang. She was murdered with her child which was also cut out of her body by the gang members. We do not know which came first. It was the bloodiest murder of the 60's. I was a teenager at the time and it shocked the whole nation. Many of our nation's laws today concerning punishment or penalties get their basis from the word of God. In the 1700's and 1800's in America before the civil war the most important and or the only book in the house was the Holy Bible. Abraham Lincoln himself proclaimed that he learned how to read by the Holy Bible in his adolescent days before he studied law.
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