This is a great one -- people use this passage to show that the baby is treated like property. So, let's debunk it LOL.
For starters, regardless of which translation you read, the baby is never described as "property." Property, again, is merely someone's opinion. Rather, we see the words fruit, premature birth, miscarriage, child/unborn child... In fact, in some translations (like the Amplified Bible), "no further mischief" is often interpreted as "the child is born prematurely but did not die."
So if the baby does NOT die, a fine is merely imposed. For whatever reason, people interpret the fine as "damaged property," despite the fact the baby is described as a child LOL. ...AND the fact that this practice is STILL in use today. Many people sue for unlawful deaths, when the blame cannot solely be pinned on a perpetrator. According to this crowd's logic, however, then the victim was merely property, not life.
However, if serious injury or death DOES result, God goes on to say, "if the woman herself sustains injury -- eye for an eye." If we are to view this as two forms of justice, this insinuates that there are obviously two separate lives taken into account. God obviously does not view a fetus as, "well, it's dependent on her to live, so I guess it isn't REALLY life 🤷♂️"
Or, how about THIS passage...
Here, we get to observe a woman's choice -- in this case, the decision to be unfaithful to her husband. Therefore, God devised a test to see how truthful she was (remember -- there was no DNA testing back then, and the husband would raise a bastard child without even realizing it. Whatta terrible sin on behalf of the woman! 😔)
The wife agrees to drink the bitter water, ("Then the woman is to say, 'Amen. So be it."), knowing the consequences of what will come of it -- of her behavior -- and if she is proven unfaithful, she is cursed. The curse is a barren womb for the rest of her life. Therefore, if she happens to be pregnant, she will miscarry -- a consequence for a barren womb. The woman agrees to all of it.
Considering that women already consent to abortion, I don't really know what more needs to be said 😅 Is it unfortunate that the barren womb results in a miscarriage if she is pregnant? absolutely. But unfortunately, the consequence of an adulterous woman is a barren womb, and I personally would also like to ensure that succubus cannot continue their reign of terror.
