At your website, in reference to Q&A 0762, you referred to Exodus 21:22. In my NIV, it reads "gives birth prematurely," which does not indicate miscarriage to me, because many children are born prematurely. Then it goes on to say, "But, if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life," which seems to justify that there was not a death in the first instance. Well, then I went and looked up the verse in two other translations, which I have included. The Message translation was the only one that said she miscarried in the first instance. To me, this changes things. Not that I am advocating that we kill people who perform abortions or anything of that nature... it just had struck me as horrible that someone would just have to pay only a fine for ending a life. Whether a baby is born prematurely or "on time," it is still a human. (A very dear friend of mine miscarried and I was with her and saw the baby when it was delivered -- three-month-old fetus -- it was definitely on its way to being a baby... this was a little traumatic I guess for me... which, I guess, explains the shock of hearing that only "a fine" would be demanded.) -- Tina
Yes, differences in translations do sometimes make differences in the nuance or even the interpretation of a passage. If it had been me writing the book of Exodus, I would have probably mandated the same penalty for killing a fetus as for killing a senior citizen. But then I didn't write Exodus.
God surely has the answer, even if I do not. I think the "serious injury" the NIV mentioned refers to the injury incurred by the adult, not the fetus. (A fetus wouldn;t be losing a tooth.)
This article is copyrighted and is for private use and study only. © 2005. Reprints or public distribution is prohibited without the express consent of Douglas Jacoby.
