“Because they were
Elders of the people,
The assembly
Believed them.
They condemned her
To death.”
These two old judges were convincing, since they were the chosen elders of the people. Thus, they issued a condemnation of death for Susanna, since a stoning death was the common punishment for adultery. Noticeably absent from this story was her husband, the good Joakim.
“I will judge you
As a woman
Who commits adultery.
I will judge you
As one who sheds blood.
I will bring
Blood upon you
In wrath,
In jealousy.
I will deliver you
Into their hands.
They shall throw down
Your platform.
They shall break down
Your lofty places.
They shall strip you
Of your clothes.
They will take
Your beautiful objects.
They will leave you naked.
They will leave you bare.”
Yahweh was going to pass judgment on Jerusalem. He was going to treat Jerusalem like a woman who had committed adultery. He was going to judge her as one who had shed blood. Yahweh was going to bring his wrath and jealousy upon her. He was going to hand her over to her former lovers. They would throw down her platforms and break up her lofty places that were at the street corners and in the public squares. They would strip her of her clothes and take her beautiful jewels. Finally, they would leave her naked and bare.
“Says Yahweh.
‘This is your lot.
This is the portion
I have measured out to you.
Because you have forgotten me.
You trusted in lies.
I myself will lift up your skirts
Over your face.
Your shame will be seen.
I have seen your abominations.
I have seen your adulteries.
I have seen your neighing.
I have seen your shameless prostitution
On the hills of the countryside.
Woe to you!
O Jerusalem!
How long will it be
Before you are made clean?’”
Yahweh was really upset, as Jeremiah indicates. Yahweh has chosen their lot and measured the size of it. They had forgotten Yahweh, but trusted in lies. Thus Yahweh was going to violate them by lifting up their skirts over their face, so that everyone could see the shame of their nakedness. Yahweh had seen enough of their abominations that included adultery, complaining, and senseless prostitution on the hills in the countryside. Thus Yahweh issued his curse on them. He had no idea how long it would take to make them clean.
“This is the way of an adulterous woman.
She eats.
She wipes her mouth.
She says.
‘I have done no wrong.’”
This female adulterer eats and wipes her face, saying that she has not done anything wrong. This is the ancient belief that the female was somehow more responsible for adultery than the male. The old moral saying is that once you get accustomed to doing something, you no longer think that it is wrong. The first few times you might be worried, but then it becomes a habit with no sense of sin or evil involved.
“Preserve yourself from the wife of another!
Preserve yourself from the smooth tongue of the adulteress!
Do not desire her beauty in your heart!
Do not let her capture you with her eyelashes!
A prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread.
But the wife of another stalks a man’s very life.
Can fire be carried in one’s bosom
Without burning one’s clothes?
Can one walk upon hot coals
Without scorching one’s feet?
So is he who sleeps
With his neighbor’s wife.
No one who touches her will go unpunished.
Thieves who steal
Only to satisfy their appetite,
When they are hungry,
Are not despised.
Yet if they are caught,
They will pay sevenfold.
They will forfeit all the goods of their house.
But he who commits adultery has no sense.
He destroys himself.
He will get wounds and dishonor.
His disgrace will not be wiped away.
Jealousy arouses a husband’s fury.
He shows no restraint when he takes revenge.
He will accept no compensation.
He refuses a bribe
No matter how great.”
This is a very long presentation on the evils of adultery. In fact, it almost seems to condone prostitution and thievery as lesser evils than adultery. Very clearly, you should stay away from the wife of another person. Watch out for her smooth tongue and eyelashes. I did not know that eyelashes were signs of beauty 2,500 years ago. The prostitute’s fee was just that of a loaf of bread. They were a lot cheaper back then. However, being involved with another man’s wife can ruin your entire life. If you play with fire, you will get burned. If you walk on hot coals, you will burn your feet. If you sleep with your neighbor’s wife, it will not go unpunished. If you stole something because you were hungry, you would have to pay for it 7 times over from the goods of your house. However, you would continue to live. However, with adultery you destroy yourself. You will be wounded, dishonored, and disgraced in a way that it will not go away. In fact, the jealous husband will not be restrained when attacking you. No compensation or bribe will make him forget. You put your life on the line. So be careful with your neighbor’s wife.
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
If I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
Then let my wife grind for another!
Let other men kneel over her.
That would be a heinous crime.
That would be a criminal offense.
That would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon.
It would burn to the root all my harvest.”
If Job had been enticed by another woman, he would have to give up his wife. If he laid in wait until his neighbor came home, that would be a terrible crime. His wife should then grind for another person. Grind referred to the idea that she should have sex with another man. Other men would then kneel over her. This would be a criminal act leading to the consuming fire of Abaddon, Sheol, or hell. His harvest should be burned at its roots. Job seemed to take adultery very seriously. He should lose his wife and crops if he committed such a thing.
“If a man is caught lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well as the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.”
Simple enough, adultery is punishable by death to both the man and woman, in order to purge the evil from Israel.
“If there is a young woman, a virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies with her, you shall bring both of them to the gate of that town, and stone them to death. The young woman because she did not cry for help in the town. The man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”
Once again, simple enough, there is a communal stoning for anyone, male or female who is engaged, having sex with someone else, when they are not married. The woman should have cried for help. Being engaged was almost the equivalent of being the wife.
“But if in the man meets the engaged woman in the open country and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. You shall do nothing to the young woman. The young woman has not committed an offense punishable by death, because this case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor. Since he found her in the open country, the engaged woman may have cried for help, but there was no one to rescue her.”
Okay, rape is wrong and punishable by death. Since no one could help the young woman in the open country, there was no blame on her. The man only has to die because rape was considered like an attack or murder.
“If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act, the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of sliver to the young woman’s father. She shall become his wife. Because he violated her he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.”
If you rape a young unengaged girl, you pay the father 50 shekels. Then you now have a wife for life without any divorce.
“A man shall not marry his father’s wife, thereby violating his father’s rights.”
Sons were not to have sex with their mother or step mother, but there is no indication of any punishment for this, other than a violation of his father’s rights.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 