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As we mentioned in our last message, we are in the section of Deuteronomy which deals with the Seventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." This commandment is a protective for the family. As such it is a vital law that demands our close. attention in the anti-marriage and anti"family modem world today. Conn .. ry to modem radical "equal rights" advocates, man and WOlnanare, fundamentally different. There is a creational distinction ordained by God between the two sexes that no amount of philosophical argument or political legislation can overcome. Uke it or not, in the beginnin.g "male and female created he them" (Gen. 1:21). One aspect of the distinction between th.e sexes is a God-ordained role distinction between husband and wife. According to the Word of God (and undoubtedly to human experience): the woman is the "weaker vessel." Thus, it is incumbent upon the husband to "give honor unto the wife,as unto the weaker vessel" (l Pet. 3:7) . . This is why it is the husband that is commanded to be the head of the home throughout Scripture, beginning in Genesis and continuing into the New Testament. This is why it is left to the man to "leave his father and his mother" in order to take the initiative in seeking out a wife (Gen. 2:24). This is why it is the husband who is to ''nourish and cherish" the wife (Eph. 5:29). The words "nourish" and "cherish" literally mean "feed" and "warm". Thus, the command means to SUpport by providing food a)ld clothing. This is why it is the husband that is commanded to "provide for his own, and specially forthose of his OWll 119use" (1 Tim. 5:8). In this message we will

consider a three-fold application of the various case laws presented. These three applications of the laws listed are deSigned to protect the weaker vessel. Although the specifics of the case laws may not directly apply today, the principles upon which they are erected undoubtedly do.

Her Economic Protection

In two places in our text monetary fines are levied against men for cenain specified actions committed against women . . In verse 19 the man who sought to divorce his wife by fabricated and slanderous charges is reqUired to pay 100 shekels of silver. "In verse

~rotecting tbe Weaker 1ge1)l)el 1JB.eut.eronomp 22: t3 -29

ReV. Kenneth 1. Gentry,jr.

. 29 the unmarried man engaged in . intimate sexual relations with an unbetrothed young Woman is fined 50 shekels of silver. Let us consider the second and lesser fine first. Verses 28 and 29 read: "If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which' is not betrothed,and lay hold 011 her, and lie with her, and they be found; then the man that Jay 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 ... A few things need to be clarified at the outset before we can properly discern the prinCiple involved in the law here outlined. First, this is not a case of rape. The word translated "lay hold" is a weaker v.erb man the word "force" in v. 25. It is to be understood in the sense of "to embrace.;' The idea iiwolv.ed here is that of young lovers

allowing their emotions to carry them too far. Second, the young woman in tile situation presented is not forced to marrY the young man. This law must be read together with its earlier statement in Exodus in order to properly grasp tile significance of the actions. Exodus 22:16-17: "And if a man entice a maid that is nnt betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly refse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins." (Here it is clear that the situation is an enticement between lovers rather than a forced PIpe berween strangers.) The girl is not forced to marry the boy, even

though it may appear that way in the reading in Deuteronomy. It would be the moral expectation that he do so, but the father may refuse to allow the . marriage. Given the family situation molded by Biblical Law, the father would take into account his

beloved daughter'S wishes. If he thought the young man unfit , he could tum him down. Or if his daughter did not wish to marry him, the loving father would tum him down as a marriage suitor. Third, the fine in this case is rather heavy. The annual poll tax in Israel for all males over 21 years of age was only one-half shekel (Exo. 30:13). The 50 shekels of verse 29 is a good sum of money. But our interest in this law at the moment is not SO mum with regard to its punishment of sexual relations between unmarried couples (although that is important in itself). Our interest is in regard to the rationale for the specific amount of the fine. According to the Exodus passage the boy was to be fined '"according to the dowry of virgins." In Deuteronomy this is specified as being 50 shekels of

October, 1996 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 13

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silver. And this is a quite important concept. In Biblical Law the "dowry of the virgin" was the wedding money that the prospective husband had to pay in order to win the blessing of the girl's father for martiage. This is not a "bride price", as if the father is selling his daughter. This wedding money had a very significant social function, a function that deals directly with . our main concern at the moment: the economic protection of the wife. The wedding money paid by the young man to the father of the bride had two very important and basic social functions: First, the sizeable amount of the payment indicates something significant. If the young man was of such character and ability to save up such a sum, he was doubtlessly a responsible and hardworking person. His desire to marry the girl was not a passing fancy, it was a responsible and well-planned action. The wedding money was proof of the man's ability to provide for and protect his wife. Second, and more important to our current concern, the wedding money served as an insurance policy for the girl. The money was given to the girl's father. But the father was simply holding it in trust for the girl and out of reach of the husband. (There were no banks back then.) This is clear in other passages of Scripture. For instance, in Genesis 31: 15 Rachel and Leah complain that their father had wickedly "devoured" their money. They expected to have it. N ormaUy the father could be trusted to have the best interest of his daughter in mind. Thus, this wedding money was the wife's insurance policy, as it were, in case the husband wickedly left her, divorced her, or . even died. She would not be left

without any means of support because of the wedding money. Now the reason why the young man might have to pay the 50 shekels and forfeit the wedding money in the case of illicit sexual relations was that the girl might become less attractive to another. And since the young man should have protected her reputation, he is assessed the eqUivalent of wedding money. In the case in verse 19, the wicked husband is reqUired to pay double the wedding money price, as punishment for his foUy. Were his wicked plan to have her capitally punished successful, he stood to gain the 50 shekels

Her Personal Protection In that the woman is the weaker

vessel, God's Law protects her from abuse from her husband. In the . case presented the abus.e she is protected from is verbal: slander. Verses 13 and 14 read: "If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, and give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid." Notice that in the terms of the case law, there is no mention of physical striking or abuse. The law deals only with verbal abuse. But notice its outcome in verse 19: "And they shall

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Gml b(twetm til(' two sex('s th.lt no umount of Ilhilosollhicnl m"~lIl11ellt 01" 1)Oliti(~ul legisl;ltioll

can nve,"(~oll"~."

fine him a hundred shehels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an mllame upon a virgin of Israel." Here is a sizeable fme: double that of the wedding money he would have paid to demonstrate his responsibility. And in veTSe 18 there is even mentioned a punishment of a beating: And the elders of that city

wedding money he had invested in the martiage. He had already demonstrated his desire to leave his wife. But God's Law provided her econorrric protection. Today the wedding money concept is witnessed in a very old tradition: the man buys the girl a costly engagement ring. Its root in Biblical Law is the economic protection of the wife . It is more than just decorative jewelry that she receives. Beyond this, the husband today is morally required before God to provide some sort of property or insurance for his wife and farrrily. She is the weaker vessel and is protected by God's Law. God expects the godly husband to do the best he can to protect her from unforeseen eventualities.

shall take that man and chastise him". Biblical Law had no expensive, counter-productive jails. It dealt with crime rather than subsidizing it. But for our purposes in this message, it should be noted that the wife is protected in God's Law against verbal assault. She is the weaker vessel. The husband may not destroy het verbally. And if the Law protected her from verbal abuse, how much more would it protect her from physical abuse! Frequently God's Law proteCts the weak with special sensitivity. In Deuteronomy 24: 12-15, 17 several classes of the SOcially weak are especially mentioned as protected by God's Law: 14 "And if the man [to whom money is loaned} be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his

. pledge: In any case thou shalt deliver

14 ~ mE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 'r October, 1996

him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his pwn raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it. ... Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nOT of tile fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge," Likewise husbands are to protect their wives, as weaker vessels, from physical and verbal abuse. God requires it!

Her Familial Protection In the last principle with which

we will deal in this study, we come upon the idea of the family's special protective care of the daughter. f or discerning this principle we must notice the role of the father in these case laws. The appearance of the . . father in the laws here in Deuteronomy and in Exodus is not incidental. His appearance and function are of fundamental Significance. Let us refresh our memories by reading Verses 13-19 and 28-29: "If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, and give occasions of speech against her, and bling up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and brillgforth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: and the damsel's father shall say unto the eldm, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; and, 10, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens oj my daughter'S virginity... . And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;

and they shall fine him a hundred shehels of silver, and give them Ullto the father of the damsel .... " "If a ma11 find a damsel that is a vi"gin, which is 110t betrothed, and lay hold 011 her, and lie with her, and tluy be found; then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's fath,, fifty shel"l's of silve,. .... " Here the protective care of the father over his daughter is strongly indicated. The woman is a weaker vessel all her life. Before marriage she is under the protective male custody of her father. After marriage her protective custody is undertaken by her husband. The family in which she is raised as a young girl has protected her throughout her childhood. And the role of the father is emphaSized. In verse 16 it is clearly inpicated that the father "gave" his daughter to the husband. This is a Emmal transferring of protective custody. This idea of the father "giving" his daughter in marriage is still visible even in today's society. Often the young mati goes to the girl's father to ask for her hand in marriage. And often one aspect of the wedding ceremony is the formal, public response and action of the father to the pastoral question, "Who giveth this woman to be this man's wife?" Generally the father responds, "I do" or "Her mother and I do." But in either case it is almost always the father that acts. Here are at least two reminders even today of the divinely ordained protective custody of daughters. 1 once had a couple that asked me to include something unusual in their wedding ceremony. They wanted me to have the husband's parents give him away! I explained to them that this wOl,lld be going against th~ ordained principles of Scripture. Furthermore, the fact that even after marriage the father holds the wedding money for the daughter indicates the male's protective role

of the female. In this case in the father!daughter relationship .

Conclusion In God's Law are numerous

protective mechanisms for the woman. Several of these are evident in the few case laws presented in Deuteronomy 22. Several points are clear: 1. God made the woman a weaker vessd than the man. Basic differences between male and female must be recognized for there to be a proper relationship between male and female in society. We should train our children from their earliest days to recognize such. We must teach our boys proper etiquette and courtesy in their dealings with girls. 2. God establishes laws designed to protect the weaker woman from the stronger man. Laws that distinguish between male and female on the basis of this stronger! weaker reality are morally just. Indeed, they are mandated by divine law. Equal rights legislation .is very often opposed to divine law at this pOint. 3. The husband is entrusted by his wife's father with the care of his new wife. He promises to "nourish and cherish", to feed and clothe her. He promises to "honor" her. The husband's role of headship is not that presented by the chauvinist. It is a loving protective role. There are many aspects to this protection, but surely among them would be included not only provision of the basic necessities of life but also insurance protection . 4. Husbands must remember the basic weakness of wives. They should not abuse them either verbally or physically. Protection is the order of the day [or the godly husband. Q

October, 1996 " THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon " 15