Exodus 22:16 - Meaning and Application

Here is a law that required a man who seduced an unmarried young woman to marry her (Exodus 22:16, Exodus 22:17). If she was already promised to another man, then seducing her was a crime worthy of death (Deuteronomy 22:23, Deuteronomy 22:24). But this law speaks of a woman who was still single.

If her father refused to give her to the man, then the man had to pay money to make up for the harm and shame he had caused her. This law honors marriage and also shows how wrong it is for children to marry without their parents' consent. Even here, where God's law set the marriage as both a punishment for the offender and a remedy for the wronged woman, the father still had the final word. If he denied his consent, there was to be no marriage.

Witchcraft is then made a capital crime, punished by death (Exodus 22:18). Witchcraft gives to the devil the honor that belongs to God alone. It also defies God's providence, fights against his rule, and hands God's work over to the devil, as if he could do good or evil at will. That makes him, in practice, the god of this world. It was therefore justly punished with death, especially among a people who had God's clear revelation and special care above all other nations.

Our own law rightly follows this principle. It treats as felony, without benefit of clergy, consulting evil spirits, making covenants with them, calling on them, or using them for any purpose, along with practicing enchantments, charms, or sorcery that harm anyone. Even claiming to find lost or stolen goods by such means is an offense the judge may punish, and a second offense may be punished with death. The justice of that law rests on the law of God here.

Unnatural acts are also made capital offenses. People who commit them are like beasts in human form and are unfit to live (Exodus 22:19). Whoever lies with an animal shall die.

Idolatry is also punished by death (Exodus 22:20). Since God had declared himself jealous in this matter, the civil authorities were to be just as jealous. They were to destroy completely any person, family, or place in Israel that worshiped any god except the Lord. This law might have stopped the sad falling away of the Jewish nation later on, if those who should have enforced it had not led the way in breaking it.

Then comes a warning against oppression. Because the people who were appointed to punish other crimes were themselves in greatest danger of this sin, God takes the matter into his own hands.

Strangers were not to be mistreated (Exodus 22:21). They were not to be cheated in court, taken advantage of in business, or treated with contempt because they were foreigners. They were not to be mocked, trampled on, or reminded of their outsider status. All of that would have hurt them and kept them from wanting to live among God's people. It could also have hardened them against the faith, which Israel should have tried to commend by gentle and kind treatment.

The reason given is simple: "You were strangers in Egypt." They knew what it was to be hurt and oppressed there. Humanity is one of the laws of religion. It especially binds us to care for people who are at a disadvantage, including strangers, even when we have no family tie or personal connection to them. Those who are strangers to us are known to God, and he protects them (Psalm 146:9). People who profess religion should try to treat strangers well, so they recommend their faith to others and avoid anything that would make religion or its followers look bad (1 Peter 2:12). And those who once lived in poverty or distress, if God has since made them prosperous, should show special kindness to others in the same situation they once knew themselves.

Widows and fatherless children were also not to be oppressed (Exodus 22:22). That means more than simply not hurting them. It includes comforting them, helping them, and being ready to show them kindness. When dealing fairly with them, their condition had to be kept in mind. They had lost those who would normally speak for them and protect them. They were likely inexperienced in business, short of advice, fearful, and tenderhearted, so they needed compassion. No one was to take advantage of them or press hard on them in ways a husband or father would have prevented.

God says that he takes special notice of their case (Exodus 22:23). With no one else to appeal to, they will cry out to him, and he will surely hear. His law and his providence guard widows and fatherless children, and if people will not pity them or hear their plea, he will. It is a great comfort to the oppressed that they have a God to go to, one who does more than listen. It should also terrify oppressors, because the cry of the poor reaches God's ear.

God will also strongly judge those who oppress them, even if human courts do not (Exodus 22:24). People who care about justice and honor will stand up for the weak and helpless. Should not the righteous God do the same? Notice how fair the sentence is here. Those who oppress widows and fatherless children will themselves lose wife and children. The Lord is known by such judgments, and he still sometimes carries them out.