Does Deuteronomy 22:25-29 imply that the rape of an unbetrothed girl is not a death penalty offense?/it

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Domande con risposta

Quick answer: no. Rape is always a mandatory death penalty offense. Scripture likens this crime to murder, which also a mandatory death penalty offense.

There are actually a couple of issues implicit in this question. The first issue is that certain Bible translations mistranslate a Hebrew word in Deut. 22:28 as "rape." This problem is discussed in the Question/Answer Does Biblical law require a girl to marry her rapist?.

A parte le traduzioni errate, la ragione per cui questa domanda potrebbe sorgere è che le Scritture affermano che c'è una pena di morte per lo stupro di una "promessa sposa", ma non specificano esplicitamente una pena per lo stupro di una donna non promessa. Ecco il passo scritturale pertinente:

25 But if the man finds the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die; 26 but to the lady you shall do nothing. There is in the lady no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter; 27 for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her. Deuteronomy 22:25-27WEB

Le leggi sui casi biblici sono spesso scritte con l'intento di distinguere le differenze giuridicamente rilevanti tra i casi. A volte, però, i casi sono "aggrovigliati" in un modo che sfida una lettura superficiale. Ad esempio, se non si capisce che il Dt 22,13-21 tratta di due casi giuridici distinti (calunnia e menzogna sul proprio stato di verginità), allora si potrebbe (erroneamente) concludere che la ragazza coinvolta è considerata colpevole fino a quando non si dimostra innocente (vedi Is the premarital unchastity case of Deut. 22:13 an example of the justice system assuming guilt until a defendant proves her innocence?).

In this section of the law, the cases are intended to establish that a woman's claim that she "cried out" in a field or other unpopulated area is sufficient to protect her from accusations of adultery (which is the only reason why the word "betrothed" is there in the case). The rapist must be put to death, but the girl has done "nothing worthy of death" (v. 26).

Rape of an unbetrothed girl is, a fortiori, a mandatory death penalty offense, based upon the general equity of Deut. 22:25-26. In v. 26, rape is likened to murder, an act in which the primary (human) victim is the person who is killed. It is reasonable to believe that the primary victim in an act of rape is the woman (not a betrothed husband). The woman's state of betrothal is irrelevant to this comparison. Therefore, when scripture equates rape to murder in v. 26 (which is also a mandatory death penalty offense), the relevant similarity between the crimes shows that (a fortiori) the rape of an unbetrothed girl also mandates the death penalty (as long as there are two or more witnesses: Deut. 19:15).

Warning: Display title "Does Deuteronomy 22:25-29 imply that the rape of an unbetrothed girl is not a death penalty offense?/it" overrides earlier display title "Il Deuteronomio 22:25-29 implica che lo stupro di una ragazza non promessa di matrimonio non è un reato da pena di morte?".