Exodus 21c- Kidnapping, Injury, Miscarriage

Exodus 21:16 And he that steals a man must be put to death, whether he sells him or not. 

Deuteronomy 24:7 If a man steals any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and makes a slave of him, or sells him, then that thief shall die. This is how thou shall get rid of evil from you.

1 Timothy 1:9-10 Realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,

Kidnapping deserves the death penalty. It is the stealing of a human being and equal in punishment to murder.


Injury

Exodus 21:18 And if men fight together, and one hits another with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn't die, but is bedridden,

19 If he gets up again, and walk about with a staff, then he that hit him will not be punished, only he
(the one who did the injuring) will pay for the loss of his (the injured man's) time, until he is thoroughly healed.

If one man injures another, the assailant will pay for the medical bills and lost labor for the victim.


Miscarriage

Exodus 21:22 If men fight, and hurt a woman who is pregnant, so that she goes into labor, but no damage is done, the one who did the injuring will be punished according to what the woman's husband says and the judges determine.

23 But if the baby is damaged, then thou will give life for life,

24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.


So, if a man causes a woman to go into premature labor but the baby is OK, the assailant must pay whatever fine the daddy and judges say he should pay. He IS punished for causing the labor.

If the baby is damaged, the penalty is the same as if it was an adult man: eye for eye, limb for limb, life for life.

This is a clear case of the unborn child being held as a human being worthy of legal protection.


More Scriptures on the Humanity of the Unborn

Psalm 139:13-16 For You formed my inward parts, You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. My soul knows Your works are very wonderful!  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of my mother's womb. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In Your book were written every one of the days that were formed for me, before there ever were any!

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, O coast lands, and give attention, you people from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother He named my name.

Isaiah 44:24 This what the Lord your Redeemer says, who formed you from the womb, “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by Myself,

Job 10:8-12 Your hands fashioned and made me, and now You have destroyed me altogether. Remember that You have made me like clay, and will You return me to the dust? Did You not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and Your care has preserved my spirit.

Genesis 25:22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “IWhy is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

 


Injury to Slaves

Exodus 21:26 And if a man hits his servant in the eye, that it is blinded, the servant shall let him go free for his eye's sake.

27 And if he knock out his servant's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.


All debts are erased if the slave is damaged by his master. Again, very different than American slavery was. American slaves had no rights and were treated the same as cattle, legally. They were certainly never set free due to damage done by their master, and the master was never punished.