And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed. The insertion of this case in a series of ordinances respecting claims to property arose from its being possessed to some extent of a similar character. A daughter was regarded by her father as property. Her suitor had to pay her father a certain sum for her; and of course antenuptial intercourse depreciated her value as a disposable subject. To seduce a young woman that was betrothed was treated as a capital crime (Deuteronomy 22:23). But though to do so in the case of an unbetrothed girl was in the eye of the law an offence of less magnitude, it was not dealt with lightly. No man, single or married, who by enticements overcame the virtue of a young female was allowed to abandon her, but was obliged to make provision for her as his future wife. And should the girl's father withhold his consent to the matrimonial union, the man was required to furnish her with a dowry suitable to her quality (cf. Genesis 24:53; Genesis 34:12). But in the present case the law determined that the highest demand which could be made was that specified, Deuteronomy 22:29. The circumstance of no punishment being inflicted on the girl; beyond her personal and irreparable degradation, was probably owing to her being still only a minor, and an inmate of her father's house. It would be well if this law were still in force and obligatory.