Exodus 22:16

Study note

Setting — The passage functions as a legal directive within a broader code, situated between regulations on borrowed livestock and parental refusal of marriage. It addresses a man who has engaged in sexual relations with a virgin not pledged to another.

The words — The Hebrew `יְפַתֶּ֣ה (ye.fa.Teh)` literally means "he will seduce," paired with `אֹרָ֖שָׂה ('o.Ra.sah)`, which denotes a woman who "was betrothed."

The thread — Deuteronomy 22:28 addresses a man encountering an unbetrothed virgin and lying with her, while Genesis 34:2 records Shechem taking and lying with a woman by force before requesting marriage.

Why it lands — The text mandates that the man pay the full dowry to marry the woman, or pay a comparable bridal price if her father refuses the union. It establishes a fixed financial and marital consequence for the act.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.