Wielding Scripture against the unborn?

In a recent Washington Post op-ed, two guest writers—a Jewish rabbi and a Baptist minister—claimed that the Christians who believe in the sanctity of unborn human life mistranslate or ignore a Hebrew passage in the book of Exodus. Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg and the Rev. Katey Zeh presented what they consider the correct translation of Exodus 21:22-23—verses describing the criminal punishment for someone who hits a pregnant woman.

According to the translation of the passage that Ruttenberg and Zeh chose from an online database of Jewish texts, the perpetrator receives a fine if the encounter causes a “miscarriage” but a “life for life” punishment if “other harm” (likely the death of the pregnant mother) results. The implication is that the life of the unborn child does not have the same value as the mother’s life.

“In discussions regarding scripture and abortion among conservative Christian theologians and ethicists, this particular verse is rarely cited or explored,” Ruttenberg and Zeh assert. “Most people sitting in the pews of Christian churches likely have never encountered this verse from Exodus in a Sunday morning sermon or a Bible study. And so the assumption among them that sacred texts uphold a staunchly anti-abortion position prevails.”

But for pro-life Christians, this verse and the debate around it are nothing new. 

“Ethicists have known for a long time that the verse is relevant to the abortion question,” said Dr. Vern Poythress, a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary who helped oversee the translation of the English Standard Version Bible. “It is often used in pro-life ethics.”

A search of the websites of a few prominent pro-life organizations further demonstrates Poythress’ point. The National Right to Life Committee and Focus on the Family both have published blog posts refuting the pro-abortion application of the verse. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention also mentions the verse in articles about abortion.

A close examination of the original Hebrew text exposes the flaw in the pro-abortion interpretation of the passage.

Christian theologian Wayne Grudem called the Washington Post authors’ chosen translation “inconsistent with the actual words used.” He directed me to his 2018 book Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning, where he spends almost two pages discussing the pro-life implications of the Exodus passage. In a lengthy footnote, he explains the translation. “There are two Hebrew words for a ‘miscarriage’ … but neither is used here,” he writes. “The word that is used, yātsā’, is ordinarily used to refer to the live birth of a child.” That means the fine punishes the attacker for sending the woman into labor and giving birth to a living child, not for causing a miscarriage.

This translation appears in the English Standard Version of the Bible, where the passage reads as follows:

“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. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

As Grudem explains in his book, “The penalty for harming the unborn child is just as great as for harming the mother. Both are treated as persons who deserve the full protection of the law.”

The translation of Exodus 21:22-23 Ruttenberg and Zeh cited states: “When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other harm ensues, the one responsible shall be fined when the woman’s husband demands compensation; the payment will be determined by judges. But if other harm ensues, the penalty shall be life for life.”