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Do Exodus and Numbers Justify Abortion? (Exodus 21 and Numbers 5)
by: Scott Klusendorf
This article is part of the Tough Passages series.

Read the Passage

22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. —Exodus 21:22–25

Does Exodus 21 Justify Abortion?

Some abortion advocates appeal directly to Scripture to make their case for elective abortion. Exodus 21:22–25 is one of their favorite references. The passage presents a situation where two men fighting accidentally injure (harm) a pregnant woman.Abortion-choice advocates argue that this Scripture passage proves that the unborn are not fully human because the penalty for accidentally killing a fetus is less than that for killing its mother. But this argument is flawed on several counts.First, assuming that the pro-abortion interpretation of this passage is correct—that the unborn’s death is treated differently than the mother’s—it doesn’t follow that the unborn are not fully human. The preceding verses (Ex. 21:20–21) present a situation where a master unintentionally kills his slave and escapes with no penalty at all (the lack of intent being proven by the interval between the blow and the death); yet it hardly follows that Scripture considers the slave less than human.Second, this passage does not even remotely suggest that a woman can willfully kill her unborn child through elective abortion. Nothing in the context supports this claim. At best the text assigns a lesser penalty for accidentally killing a fetus than for accidentally killing his mother. It simply doesn’t follow that a woman may deliberately abort her own offspring.Third, the pro-abortion interpretation of this passage (that a lesser penalty applies for accidental fetal death) is highly suspect. When read in the original Hebrew, the passage seems to convey that both the mother and the child are covered by lex talionis, the law of retribution. According to Hebrew scholar Gleason Archer, “There is no second class status attached to the fetus under this rule. The fetus is just as valuable as the mother.”1 Furthermore, we should not presume that the child in question is dead, as in the case of elective abortion. Millard Erickson, citing the work of Jack Cottrell, writes that the passage can be reasonably translated “the child comes forth,” and if he or she is not injured, the penalty is merely a fine.2 But if he or she is harmed, the penalty is life for life, tooth for tooth, and so on. (Note also that the text calls the expelled fetus a “child,” a fact that abortion-choice advocates cannot easily get around.Read More – Go to SourceThis article is adapted from The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture by Scott Klusendorf.Need a prayer? Prayer RequestsPlease subscribe to our main Ministries daily scripture study – Koa Sinag MinistriesHave a Testimony of how God has changed or intervened in your life? Tell us your story! Give God Praise!Need some inspiration? Check out others Testimonies!Have you checked out our online store? We have a tonne of fascinating and colourful PDF books, toys, kids’ apparel, and much more, including complimentary PDFs for home schoolers!
Scott Klusendorf (MA, Biola University) is the president of Life Training Institute, where he trains pro-life advocates to persuasively defend their views. A passionate and engaging platform speaker, Scott’s pro-life presentations have been featured by Focus on the Family, Truths That Transform, and American Family Radio.
Go to Source Author: Scott KlusendorfThe post Do Exodus and Numbers Justify Abortion? (Exodus 21 and Numbers 5) first appeared on Koa Sinag.

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