Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 64:1 (Mar 2021)
Article: Rape In Israel’s World … And Ours: A Study Of Deuteronomy 22:23–29
Author: Sandra L. Richter

JETS 64:1 (March 2021) p. 59

Rape In Israel’s World … And Ours: A Study Of Deuteronomy 22:23–29

Sandra L. Richter*

^* Sandra L. Richter is the Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College, 955 La Paz Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. She may be contacted at [email protected]. This paper was first presented on November 21, 2019 at the “Warfare and Violence in the Old Testament: Sexual Violence in the Old Testament and the Church” section at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in San Diego, CA. Many thanks to Brittany Kim and Ralph Hawkins for their work to create this section and topic, to Gordon Hugenberger for his insistence that I publish, and to Kathy Noftsinger for reading and editing early versions of the piece.

Abstract: Sexual violence toward women is a pervasive and global issue. It is therefore a problem to which biblical scholars, theologians, and ministers must attend. The biblical law codes addressing this topic, however, are difficult for the modern reader to access. As a result, many have concluded that Israel’s laws of sexual misconduct were so embedded in traditional and patriarchal systems that they were unable to provide protection or justice for women then or now. For many, this perceived legal dilemma implicates the character of the Mosaic covenant and Yahweh himself. This article revisits the crime of rape in Israel’s society, contextualizes that law in its ancient Near Eastern milieu, and compares Deuteronomy’s legal response to rape with our own. The conclusion is that within its societal context, the laws of Deuteronomy did indeed protect women, often more effectively than surrounding law codes, and perhaps more effectively than modern legal systems.

Key words: consent, Deuteronomy 22, law, mōhar, rape, seduction, sexual agency, women

In the never-ending quest for a television program that the entire family can watch without someone winding up with nightmares or an advanced education in human sexuality, my family recently landed upon Downton Abbey. I realize that the rest of the world has “been there, done that,” but in the magical world of Netflix this “old” program became “new,” and we were charmed. A few weeks in, however, we reached season 4, episode 3. In this episode—to our horror—the lovely character we know as Anna is brutally raped by a visiting lord’s valet. The scene is well-written, well-directed, and well-acted. All of which means it left my family stunned, silent, and wounded. The rape is not visually depicted. Rather the audience is privy only to the original confrontation in which Anna is overpowered by a man she has no physical capacity to combat, beaten into submission, and dra...