Exodus 22:17
If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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This verse highlights a surprising truth: even when a man has wronged a woman, her father still holds the ultimate authority to consent to marriage. If the father refuses, the man isn't off the hook; he must still pay a sum equivalent to a bride-price, acknowledging the value of the woman and her potential loss of dignity or future prospects due to the transgression.
This passage addresses a scenario where a man has had sexual relations with an unbetrothed virgin. While the default consequence is that the man must marry her, this verse provides a crucial exception: if the father refuses to allow the marriage, the man is not forced to marry her but must still pay a sum of money equivalent to the bride-price. This highlights the importance of parental consent, even in a situation where the law is already imposing a consequence for wrongdoing.
In a world often focused on individual choice, this verse highlights a different perspective on marriage decisions. What does it reveal about the role of parents?
This verse touches on a situation where a man has wronged a woman (presumably by seducing or raping her, based on the context of Exodus 22). The default legal outcome, if certain conditions were met, was for the man to marry the woman.
However, Exodus 22:17 introduces a crucial condition: the father's consent. Even in this legally mandated marriage scenario, the father had the ultimate authority to refuse the union. This underscores the significant societal and familial role parents played in marriage arrangements. It wasn't just about the two individuals, but about the joining of families, and the father's approval was paramount.
This isn't to say children had no say, but the father's word carried legal and social weight.
What happens when the intended marriage can't or shouldn't happen? This verse offers an unexpected alternative.
When a father refused to give his daughter to the man who had wronged her, the legal consequence wasn't forced marriage. Instead, the man was required to pay money.
This payment was 'according to the dowry of virgins.' This implies a standard, though perhaps variable based on social standing, amount that a bride's family would typically receive or that the groom would provide as part of the marriage arrangement.
The payment served a dual purpose:
This passage deals with a similar situation of a man having relations with an unbetrothed virgin, but it focuses on the penalty if she is *not* married to him, highlighting the financial compensation and the father's role, which parallels the father's decision-making power in Exodus 22:17.
1 Samuel 18:25This verse mentions a dowry or bride-price in the context of marriage negotiations, showing the established cultural practice of financial consideration in marriage that Exodus 22:17 refers to when setting the monetary value.
Genesis 34:11-12Here, Shechem wants to marry Dinah and offers any amount of money and gifts, but her brothers respond by emphasizing the bride-price and dowry, illustrating the significant financial and familial aspects involved in a legitimate marriage proposal that underlies the principles in Exodus 22:17.
Ephesians 5:25-33While a New Testament passage, it profoundly speaks to the value Christ places on the church, likening it to a bride and His sacrificial love for her, which elevates the dignity of marriage and the protection of women, offering a spiritual parallel to the protective and compensatory measures in Exodus 22.
gillExodus 22:17: "If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins."
If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him,.... For wife, either because of his character, family, or circumstances; or, however, being disagreeable to him on one account or another, and therefore will by no means agree to marry his daughter to him, and not only give him an absolute denial, but resolutely persist in it: the Targum of Jonathan has it,"if it seems not go…
bensonExodus 22:17: "If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins."
Exodus 22:17 . If the father refuse, he shall pay money — This shows how ill a thing it is, and by no means to be allowed, that children should marry without their parents’ consent: even here, where the divine law appointed the marriage, both as a punishment to him that had done wrong, and a recompense to her that had suffered wrong, yet there was an express reservation for t…
This verse highlights a surprising truth: even when a man has wronged a woman, her father still holds the ultimate authority to consent to marriage. If the father refuses, the man isn't off the hook; he must still pay a sum equivalent to a bride-price, acknowledging the value of the woman and her potential loss of dignity or future prospects due to the transgression.
This passage addresses a scenario where a man has had sexual relations with an unbetrothed virgin. While the default consequence is that the man must marry her, this verse provides a crucial exception: if the father refuses to allow the marriage, the man is not forced to marry her but must still pay a sum of money equivalent to the bride-price. This highlights the importance of parental consent, even in a situation where the law is already imposing a consequence for wrongdoing.
This passage addresses a scenario where a man has had sexual relations with an unbetrothed virgin. While the default consequence is that the man must marry her, this verse provides a crucial exception: if the father refuses to allow the marriage, the man is not forced to marry her but must still pay a sum of money equivalent to the bride-price. This highlights the importance of parental consent, even in a situation where the law is already imposing a consequence for wrongdoing.
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"If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins." — This verse highlights a surprising truth: even when a man has wronged a woman, her father still holds the ultimate authority to consent to marriage. If the father refuses, the man isn't off the hook;…
