“And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.”
If a man sleeps with a female slave who is promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. The regulation for the borderline case involving a female slave who is promised (but not yet married or ransomed): the punishment is not death but a reduced penalty because she was not a free woman with full legal status. The regulation is not endorsing the institution of slavery but acknowledging its legal complexity within the covenant community's real circumstances and providing a graduated response to a graduated violation.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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