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Exodus 21:22-25--Is a fetus a child?

Translation: "And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so she has a premature birth, yet there is no significant bodily injury, to the mother or the child, he shall surely be fined (in view of initiating the traumatic experience) as the woman's husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is a significant bodily injury to the mother or child, then you shall appoint as a penalty, and according to that which applies, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." (interpretative translation by Wayne House)

Interpretation: The problem is that some translations like the New American Standard Version (NASV) indicate that a miscarriage takes place in verse 22. In a miscarriage the baby is born dead. Those who are pro-abortion believe they can then obtain support for their position because the fighting men are not assigned a penalty which is appropriate for killing a person. Thus, they believe the fetus was never a person and could righteously be aborted.

A translation which respects the normal usage of the Hebrew word translated "miscarriage" in NASV indicates that a live child was born prematurely as the result of the assault. Another Hebrew word is used for a miscarriage (Exodus 23:26; Hosea 9:14). Thus if the child (and/or probably the mother) is unharmed in the process, the penalty against the struggling men would only be a fine. But if the live child (and/or probably the mother) is injured by the assault, then a penalty appropriate to an assault on a person must be applied. Thus, this text treats a fetus as a person.

These sources were used to investigate this interpretation: The Expositor's Bible Commentary, 2:434; Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, 408-410; Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 6:76-81; Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 1:378-380.

June 08, 2002, Edition -- Copyright 1999-2002Ken Bowles