Protecting the Defenseless.

Deuteronomy 22:25 “But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, 27 because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.

After repeating many of the laws found in Exodus with the wilderness wanderings, we come to this section.  After living for decades in close proximity in Egypt, and then the tent city of the wilderness wanderings, the people were going to have space and more privacy. There were many good things about that, but it also meant less accountability.  Men need to be held accountable for their actions.  Women needed the protection by society.  Whenever anyone is allowed to bully others to get what they want, society must step in and protect, or eventually all will suffer.  Added to that is the fact that the man to whom this woman was betrothed had been violated and the tendency for revenge was real. That also would disturb the society as a whole. Have we learned these lessons?