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Augustine: Abortion and Exodus 21:22-23

Old Testament religious discussion apart from Biblical history

Augustine: Abortion and Exodus 21:22-23

Postby EzraLB » Sat Feb 27, 2016 6:29 am

One of the earliest Christian debates on abortion arose out of the interpretation of Exodus 21:22-23

If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life

Among the Ante-Nicene Christians, Athenagoras argued against abortion as a form of cruelty, whereas Augustine of Hippo ("Saint" Augustine) extended the debate in On The Soul And Its Origins, specifically citing the above passage from Exodus. Augustine's interpretation of Scripture is summarized here:

"Augustine accepted the distinction between 'formed' and 'unformed' fetuses found in the Septuagint version of Exodus 21:22-23. While the Hebrew text provided for compensation in the case of a man striking a woman so as to cause a miscarriage, and for the penalty to be exacted if further harm were done, the Septuagint translated the word 'harm' as 'form,' introducing a distinction between a 'formed' and an 'unformed' fetus. The mistranslation was rooted in an Aristotelian distinction between the fetus before and after its supposed 'vivification' (at forty days for males, ninety days for females). According the the Septuagint, the miscarriage of an unvivified fetus resulted in a fine for the attacker; but if the fetus were vivified, the punishment was a capital one."
--from Augustine Through The Ages: An Encyclopedia by Allan Fitzgerald & John Cavadini, p.1
https://books.google.com/books?id=GcVhA ... &q&f=false

It seems that this passage from Exodus illustrates an unintentional act which results in a miscarriage, rather than an intentional act of infanticide, but I am not enough of a Biblical scholar to make that distinction with any certainty, especially concerning the word strive. And I was unaware of the discrepancies between the Hebrew and the Septuagint which lead to this debate.

If anyone here has looked into this subject, I'd be interested in hearing what your take is on it. Obviously, abortion is wrong--that's stipulated--but what about the distinctions that Augustine is alluding to based on the different OT translations? Is Augustine misinterpreting this passage from Exodus by over-relying on the Septuagint?

Augustine's On The Soul And Its Origin
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/15084.htm
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Re: Augustine: Abortion and Exodus 21:22-23

Postby Nayto » Sat Feb 27, 2016 11:43 am

EzraLB wrote:It seems that this passage from Exodus illustrates an unintentional act which results in a miscarriage, rather than an intentional act of infanticide


My thoughts exactly. The Hebrew word for "strive" seems simply to "quarrel". Even in the context of its other uses, it doesn't even necessarily imply anything physical.

It says later in the passage that if any mischief follow, then he should give life for life. This implies that a life has been taken, which makes sense, because the unborn child's life has been taken. This most certainly implies that the unborn child is always considered a life.

I interpret the situation that if a man accidentally kills a woman's unborn child, then he will pay a fine. Accidental killing of other grown people is also excused in Scripture. However if mischief continue, implying that the man who did the act continues to harass the woman, then he will have forfeit the grace afforded to him.
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Re: Augustine: Abortion and Exodus 21:22-23

Postby matthewott » Sat Feb 27, 2016 1:10 pm

Without delving into a concordance or lexicon, the way I am reading it is that, if a pregnant woman is caught in the crossfire of an altercation, and she ends up going into labor and giving birth, that a monetary penalty should be incurred, but if the child and/or the mother should lose their life, then...

Of course this is my own speculation without truly studying the Scripture, but using my understanding of the Law to apply 'common sense'.
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Re: Augustine: Abortion and Exodus 21:22-23

Postby wmfinck » Sun Feb 28, 2016 3:38 pm

Matt is reading this passage correctly. I have looked at the Hebrew, and also at the Greek. This passage is certainly discussing the possibility of men unintentionally harming a pregnant woman who is in harms way.

Both the Hebrew and Greek are describing the possibility where if this happens, the child is caused to depart from the womb prematurely. But there is no word about the child being dead.

The Septuagint Greek only contains the possibility of the child not being fully formed, which seems to have been added in the interpretation of the Hebrew.

Then a case is given if there is no further damage, that a fine would be paid as adjudged.

There is the possibility that the mother suffers little or no harm, and the premature infant would still grow to its childhood.

That would be the case where the KJV has "yet no mischief follow".

However I would count the death of the child, or the death of the mother in the premature birth, to be further damage, and to be governed by the text of the next verse, ""and if mischief follow", in Exodus 21:23.

There is no justification of abortion, which would be mischief that followed, and death would be required for the man who caused it.
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Re: Augustine: Abortion and Exodus 21:22-23

Postby EzraLB » Sun Feb 28, 2016 3:55 pm

So, if what Bill is saying is true--and I believe it is--then it was the Catholics themselves, following the lead of their beloved "Saint" Augustine, who introduced the Pharasaical hairsplitting idea of when a fetus actually acquires a "soul" during gestation. Isn't that ironic?
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Re: Augustine: Abortion and Exodus 21:22-23

Postby wmfinck » Sun Feb 28, 2016 5:11 pm

EzraLB wrote:So, if what Bill is saying is true--and I believe it is--then it was the Catholics themselves, following the lead of their beloved "Saint" Augustine, who introduced the Pharasaical hairsplitting idea of when a fetus actually acquires a "soul" during gestation. Isn't that ironic?


Yes it is, because the idea would really belong to - pagans!

Oh my... :shock:
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