MARRIAGE BY RAPE

The Laws of the Hebrew Scripture had been intended to display the wisdom of Israel’s God:

·       “See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:5-8)

The wisdom of God’s laws was to be Israel’s method of evangelizing the nations. They would perceive God’s wisdom and Israel’s blessings in following them, and they would realize that God was with Israel.

This suggests that if we don’t perceive God’s wisdom in these laws, we might be missing something. Bible critics love to pull these laws out of context to show us that, not only are these laws not wise, they are actually barbaric. One favorite example is the law that requires the seducer/rapist to marry his “victim”:

·       “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.” (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)

The critic insists that requiring the victim to marry her rapist represent the height of moral abuse. Therefore, the God who would require this must be a male tyrant.

However, it might be possible that these critics are misconstruing something. Instead, it seems that the “victim” had been a willing participant. Notice how she is associated with her assailant: “and they are found.” It seems that both parties had been trying not to be found.

There is also another consideration. The verses prior to these make a sharp distinction between whether the “assault” occurs in the city or in the open country. If the rape is in the country, the woman would not share the guilt because her screams for help would not have been heard in the country. However, if the rape occurred in the city, she could have cried for help and would have been heard. The fact that she didn’t cry out was understood to mean that she bore part of the moral responsibility for the act.

Consequently, because the woman was complicit, she would be expected to marry her seducer. If she refused, she would have been regarded as disgraced and undesirable for any other marriage.

What can we learn from this example? Scripture is often misconstrued, sometimes purposely. This is why we are required to meditate on the Word both day and night (Psalm 1:1-3). This is also why God provides pastors and teachers.