Exodus 21:22-25

(Commonplace Book)

From: The Book of Exodus

Exodus 21:22-25

"If, when men come to blows, they hurt a woman who is pregnant and she suffers a miscarriage, though she does not die of it, the man responsible must pay the compensation demanded of him by the woman's master; he shall had it over, after arbitration.  But should she die, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stroke for stroke." (end quote--From The Jerusalem Bible translation)

Notice the obvious.  If you kill the fetus, then you have to pay compensation.  But if you kill a woman, well, that's different.  Now there's a human life that you have to answer for.

This is more evidence that the "life begins at conception" idea didn't exist until the modern abortion controversy.  

Because the NIV is more common in the community I grew up in, here is the same passage from the NIV:

22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely[a] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Footnotes

a. Exodus 21:22 Or she has a miscarriage