Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 37:1 (Winter 2023)
Article: The Case Of Virgin Rape: Deuteronomy 22
Author: Jessica Stefick

PP 37:1 (Winter 2023) p. 10

The Case Of Virgin Rape: Deuteronomy 22

Jessica Stefick

From Priscilla Papers 34/1 (Winter 2020) 3–6

Jessica Stefick will soon complete an MA in Theological Studies, with a concentration in Old Testament, at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. She further plans to pursue a PhD. Jessica has served in ministry roles and also teaches ballet.

In 2012, sixteen-year-old Amina Filali killed herself by ingesting rat poison after being forced to marry her rapist by the Moroccan judicial system.1 While the situation might shock us, her response comes as no surprise since Amina would have shared the bed of her rapist for the rest of her life, giving him the “right” to repeat the initial act indefinitely. Sadly, such an arrangement is no stranger to ancient Israel’s law. This article will evaluate three patriarchal themes that arise from the literary and historical contexts of Deut 22:28–29 in order to produce three outcomes: a greater understanding of the law’s original sociological intentions, its potential theological implications, and recommendations regarding how the contemporary church might respond to such a text.

The Law And Its Context

If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act, the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the young woman’s father, and she shall become his wife. Because he violated her he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives. (Deut 22:28–29 NRSV)

The law under discussion is found within a larger grouping of laws (Deut 22:13–30) that seem to fall under the seventh commandment, the prohibition of adultery.2 Within this grouping appears a subset of laws pertaining to rape. The penalty for the rape of an unengaged virgin, the law under discussion, concedes to prescribe the least severe of the available punishments (Deut 22:23–29). The rape of a married or engaged woman—implying “ownership” of the woman was already guaranteed by the payment of a bride-price—always leads to the male perpetrator’s death (Deut 22:23–25). Two considerations influence the assessment of a rape case: the extent to which a woman appeared to have consented and her status in relation to a man.

Notwithstanding, scholars argue whether we can speak of the Deuteronomic law as having a c...