Does The Bible Command Rapists To Marry Their Victims?
When one views the Bible as the apex of morality, a critic will likely bring up Deuteronomy 22:28-29 as a nail in the coffin to make an opposing case. Based on the NIV rendering, one may conclude that the Bible is forcing rape victims to wed their attacker.
“ If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.”(Deut. 22:28-29, NIV)
Contextually, the passage sits within a section of the text which focuses in on expanding on the seventh commandment “You shall not commit adultery” (22:9-23:18, 23:15-15;5:18) [1]
Those familiar with Biblical translations will know that the NIV utilized a dynamic equivalence theory, whereas the KJV and NASB used more of a formal or word for word equivalence. “Dynamic equivalence” allows the translation to be more interpretive in order to make the text be easier to understand.[2]
The KJV and NASB renderings of the same passage offer us a very different picture:
“If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered, then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he cannot divorce her all his days.”(Deut 22:28-29, NASB)
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.” (Deut 22:28-29, KJV)
In the preceding verses of 25-27, force is involved regardless of which translation is involved. “The Hebrew text says, ‘if he seizes her and lies with her’”, the NIV translates this as “rapes her” and includes a parallel with murder in verse 26.[3] Whereas the KJV indicates that “force” was used in 28:25, a more neutral “lay hold” is used in 28:28. The punishment for the rapist is death, and the young woman who was assaulted is rightly identified as having done no wrong, and the evil demonstrated against her is cited as akin to that done to the victim of a murder.
In the case of Deuteronomy 22:28, a neutral reference to intercourse is used in the verb ‘nh pi‘el[4], as it was also used in the immediate context in 22:24.
As Deuteronomy is one of the most quoted texts of the New Testament, it’s worth considering how Jesus discussed adultery: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Does the Bible command rapists to marry their victims? No. Instead, it commanded that rapists receive the death penalty, and that if a man seduces a woman outside of marriage, then that man should take responsibility and take care of that woman through committing to her in marriage.
[1] Edward J. Woods. (2011). Deuteronomy : An Introduction and Commentary (Replacement volume, Vol. 00005). IVP Academic.
[2] One Bible, many versions — Wesley Huff
[3] Edward J. Woods. (2011). Deuteronomy : An Introduction and Commentary (Replacement volume, Vol. 00005). IVP Academic.
[4] Nelson, Richard D.. Deuteronomy : A Commentary, Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.
Yes, critics always skip the verses immediately before these, where a rapist is to be executed, because that ruins the attack they want to make against God.
This second refinement to "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is just an old-fashioned shotgun wedding. The young woman responds to the man's advances towards her, and the result is that they ought to get properly married and not just carry on together without that commitment.