I did get a chuckle out of some of the comments here...and the "5 on 2" comment made me laugh out loud.
Then I pulled out my bible and read Deuteronomy 25. It is actually a pretty interesting chapter that mainly teaches about being fair (a topic that should be of some interest on a board game site):
It speaks of being generous/fair to the ox by letting him eat while he drives the grinder (don't muzzle the ox).
It speaks of the ancient Jewish custom of having a brother marry the wife of his dead brother (so that she would be taken care of). In those days it was dangerous for a woman to be on her own....so it wouldn't be fair to just let a widow be at risk if there was a brother who could step in to help.
It speaks of not having different weights (a heavy set and a light set) so that you can rip people off.....but to weigh/measure everything fairly.
I suspect verses 11 & 12 are saying that it may be the wife's inclination to 'save' her husband....but if it's a fair fight, then let them settle it fairly. Don't step in and hit the opponent where it hurts. I can't speak to the harshness of the punishment, but it could be a mistranslation. Also, whenever discussing the Old Testament, we need to remember that Christ fulfilled the Mosaic law (eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth)....and introduced his law (love and forgiveness).
So while taking a bizzare verse out of context may be good for a laugh, the overall message of 'be fair to each other' withstands the test of time as a good basis for any society....and something that may have harsh consequences if not followed.
What part of mutilating a woman for trying to save her husband from a violent conflict is fair again?
Well, she isn't a man, so you are only wrecking property...
Greendan wrote:
We should totally do this as a regular thread. Good laughs.
Moshe isn't allowed to play though.
Why not, he is allowed to do mental gymnastics, even though he is using the wrong book.
It doesn't say "only fight fair". Or "wives shouldn't interfere with a fair fight".
That's all just you putting your own interpretation on the meaning of it so that the source script is less offensive. But you are changing the wording to do so, because those verses don't SAY anything like that at all.
The entire chapter is about fairness. It's talking about fairness immediately before and immediately after these verses. Taken out of context, it may not mention the word fair, but reading the actual text its difficult to miss that meaning. As in all communication, context is important.
XanderF wrote:
What it says is - if two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them grabs someones balls in the fight, you chop her hand off.
What you should say is: "the english translation that we have today says....." I'm not prepared to say that this is how Moses would have wanted it recorded and translated into English. As I read the Bible, there many mis-translations/alterations.
Perhaps the author had a little of the RSP approach: Perhaps he took an example so far 'out there' so that it would get people's attention, give them a chuckle, and get them to really consider the issue at hand---fairness.
Maybe they had as good a laugh about the concept when Moses taught it as we have today. Maybe they went home and told their families: "you'll never believe what Moses said today...." Perhaps it was just an extreme example meant to have people consider and talk about the importance of being fair.
The other concepts in the chapter are about real social issues (how to treat animals, how to take care of widows, how to be fair in commerce)....this one seems definately out of place (unless the wives of that time were often saving their husbands by taking a cheap-shots from the sidelines), which leads me to believe that we have some kind of mis-translation, or mis-understanding of what the author was actually trying to communicate.
So while it may be good for a chuckle, drawing a conclusion about the actual validity of the Bible as a sacred text based on these verses would be a mistake IMO.
