Deuteronomy 22:22-27

22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die.

26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:

27 For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

Very plainly, this law from Deuteronomy 22 suggests that the law giver does not understand how rape works. Firstly, it suggests that a wife raped is the same an adulterous wife. Then, that a wife-to-be is more important than a woman who is not betrothed, as the man is not put to death for defiling such a virgin. In fact, the only things considered immoral in these texts is the defiling of another man’s wife or wife-to-be. This suggests that the law giver believed women to be the property of men.

On the topic of the mechanics of rape, this ancient and short-sighted law does not take into account the possible reasons a woman might have for refraining to cry out. It completely disregards the woman’s ability or inability to fight back or cry out for help and suggests that her mere proximity to other people would render her able to let her assailant’s actions be known. This is not always the case. With this in mind, it is painfully obvious that the author cared more for the property of men than for the well-being of women.

Deuteronomy 22:13-21

13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,

14 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:

15 Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:

16 And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;

17 And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;

19A nd they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:

21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

According to this passage from Deuteronomy 22, it is more shameful for a man to defame a virgin than to rape a virgin. In this instance, the man pays 100 shekels of silver to the woman’s father. In Deuteronomy 22:28-29, the man only pays fifty shekels for the rape of a virgin.

Additionally, any woman who has sex before she is married may be stoned to death on her father’s doorstep. As it is a common practice among people from many nations to engage in the practice of trying before buying and indeed have premarital sex, this little-known Biblical law is rarely if ever enforced, with the notable exceptions of certain third-world and third-rate countries.