Why would any woman want to be Christian?

[EGross]

So the verse obviously means a couple caught in the act, which may or may not be forcible, but the woman has no choice but to be his wife for the rest of her life. That will teach them!

Was going to point out that "rape" is a bad (or at best contested) translation of that verse. Those verses are a protection for women. A woman not a virgin was less likely to get a husband in that culture. This forced the man who took her virginity (quite possibly by saying he loved her and would marry her) to support her for life. From what I've read the woman could opt out, but as she liked him enough to have the affair, she probably didn't want to in most cases.

Since nobody seems to really understand the verse, I thought I'd clarify it.

While I did say that it was a bad translation, I did not say that there was no rape. And for those who have studied such texts in the past, not only the language, but the style is also important.

First, the woman is prohibited from being a zonah, and is enjoined to be a woman of moral character. Sex before marriage would not only prohibit her from marrying certain segments of the population, but would reduce her ketubah by half. (There are also punishments based on the nuance of the text, involved here, which would require more depth to go into, but suffice to say that sShe could be exiled, harmed, or killed.)

Next, the man is not known to her. He happens to see her, he finds her for himself. In the language of the Torah, when one lays with another it is an undesirable act. (A couple of examples come to mind, Reuben who forcibly took his father's concubine and lain with her, with the daughters of Lot who did so with their unconscious father). It is the act of power, of taking control. An acceptable coupling is called "knowing".

The man comes across a naar (the status of a female over the age of three) and lays with her. She is neither cast out, when discovered, beaten, or executed. It is he who is punished directly, by paying an additional fine of 50 shekels to the father, she maintains her full ketubah, because of someone who forced his way on her, which, because it was no adultery, and because nobody witnessed the initial action, and because she is now ruined goods (for future financial transactions by the father), there is no death, but a fine, and he is forced to acquire her.

There are those who might call him a seducer more than a rapist, and either might apply, but in either case, the woman is treated, at first, as the victim. It was not mutual consent. Since the girl could have been 5 or 6 years old (as well as younger or older), based on the wording, modern society would also put the blame on the man if that was the case.

But here is the problem with it.

The girl can never get divorced from him. Ever. He is a creep and she is his. He can marry another and cast her aside to live alone if he chooses, but she will never be free of him. She will be married in a way that makes her equivilant to an agunah, one who is in a marriage limbo, who cannot get a divorce and never remarry so long as he lives (and someone must witness his death).

And her ketubah is worthless, because that is will used when her contract with him is complete, which it never will be until he dies, and if he has sons, she gets no property, and if they are not children from her, she is forced out.

For an extra 50 shekels, he gets a slave, not because he wanted one, but because he was caught. And the girl is condemned to be with him forever.

As an aside, the status of an agunah holds today. A woman can never divorce her husband, but only he can divorce her. He can demand the house, the savings, and everything in exchange for giving her a get (which is not the case in the above), and the reward for being an asshole in this case, is he gets everything and she gets nothing.

That is some of the halachic implications of this pusek. The woman was, and still is property, and the husband is always referred to as the ba'al, or "master" for good reason.

Hopefully this explains things a bit better for those who never bothered learning this pusek.

heh!