Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Bill:

On 1/8/08, Bill Rea <bsr15 AT cantsl.it.canterbury.ac.nz> wrote:
> Yitzhak wrote:-
>
> >> People are not different, but they have different cultural values, and
> >> our cultural sense
> >> of right or wrong is different from the values during Biblical times.
> >>
>
> And Karl asked:-
>
> >Oh? How are they different? Can you give any specific examples?
>
> In the Bible the seduction of a married woman is a more serious
> crime than the rape of a virgin. Most modern westerners would hold
> the opposite view, me included.
>
Could you please remind me of the verses that you are looking at? The
only verses that I can think of are found in Deuteronomy 22 where
"rape" is not mentioned. Rape always carried the death sentence.

As for the seduction of a  married woman, I agree that that is most
serious, more serious than the seduction of an unmarried woman
(virgin) because the latter is the marrying of an unmarried woman, the
former is also the violation of marriage vows.

> Bill Rea, ICT Services, University of Canterbury \_
> E-Mail bill.rea AT canterbury.ac.nz                </   New
> Phone 64-3-364-2331, Fax  64-3-364-2332        /)  Zealand
> Unix Systems Administrator                    (/'

All societies share common norms of ethical behavior. Stealing,
murdering, lying, the coveting of what belongs to others, are all
recognized as wrong. Even in sexually "liberated" societies, there is
an implicit recognition that cheating on one's lover is wrong. Some
try to justify their actions, but even the action of trying to justify
themselves is an admission that they recognize that what they do is
wrong. In that, ancient societies are no different from modern ones.

Karl W. Randolph.