---
title: "Exodus 21:22-25"
description: "This is the clearest civil-law text on the unborn. When a pregnant woman is struck and the child is harmed, the law demands 'life for life' — the same lex talionis applied to any person. The child in the womb is treated as a legal person whose death is answered with the full penalty for homicide,…"
type: "scripture"
book: "Exodus"
chapter: 21
verses: "22-25"
translation: "NASB"
refutes: "Pro-choice framing"
affirms_abolition: true
themes:
  - "personhood"
  - "lex talionis"
  - "equal protection"
  - "unborn in law"
  - "justice"
source_url: "https://www.abhortion.org/scripture/exodus-21-22-25.html"
---

# Exodus 21:22-25

Book of Exodus · Chapter 21

## The text

> “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
> — Exodus 21:22-25, NASB

**The claim this verse counters:** "The unborn child has a lesser legal status than a born person; harming the unborn is not equivalent to harming a person."

## The argument

This is the clearest civil-law text on the unborn. When a pregnant woman is struck and the child is harmed, the law demands 'life for life' — the same lex talionis applied to any person. The child in the womb is treated as a legal person whose death is answered with the full penalty for homicide, not a property fine.

## Context & notes

The famous 'eye for eye, life for life' passage — usually quoted in death-penalty debates — is, in its original context, about the death of an unborn child. Abolitionists argue this refutes any tiered view in which the unborn count for less. (Note: some translations and scholars read 'gives birth prematurely / miscarriage'; the abolitionist reading, following the NASB and the lex talionis structure, is that the child who 'comes out' is protected by full life-for-life justice. Steelman the alternative reading honestly when engaging scholars.)

## Themes

- personhood
- lex talionis
- equal protection
- unborn in law
- justice

## Discussion questions

1. In this law, what penalty is owed when the unborn child dies — and how does that compare to the penalty for killing an adult?
2. Why is it significant that the 'life for life' formula — the backbone of biblical justice — first appears in a case about a child in the womb?
3. How would you respond charitably to someone who reads verse 22 as 'miscarriage' rather than 'premature birth'?

## Source transcript

Drawn from Does the Pro-Life Movement Hate Justice? (T. Russell Hunter, 'Justice Alone') — Read at length: 'that whole lex talionis... the literal passage is about an unborn child being killed.'.

## Related

**Related scriptures:**

- [Genesis 9:6](genesis-9-6.md)
- [Exodus 20:13](exodus-20-13.md)
- [Psalm 139:13-16](psalm-139-13-16.md)
- [Luke 1:41-44](luke-1-41-44.md)

**Related arguments:**

- [The unborn bear the image of God, so abortion is murder — a different category than 'a hard choice'](../arguments/arg-image-of-God.md)
- [“Equal protection does not require prosecuting mothers; targeting abortionists (and…”](../arguments/arg-equal-protection-14th.md)
- [“The unborn is not a baby or a person until birth (or until viability); personhood is…”](../arguments/def-not-a-person-until-birth.md)

## Sources

- [When Human Life Begins](https://acpeds.org/when-human-life-begins/)
  American College of Pediatricians — medical/position

## Attribution

Verse text is quoted from the NASB. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org