This overlaps a lot with toxic ‘purity’ culture. There is much to say about sex and sexual violence in the Old Testament. My niche area of interest is Deuteronomy 22:13–29.
In case you forgot, this passage has six laws:
- Verses 13-19 are about a bridegroom slandering his bride, saying she wasn’t a virgin
- Verses 20-21 are about a newlywed daughter being stoned to death by her parents
- Verse 22 is about a man and a married woman caught in adultery
- Verses 23-24 are about a man and a betrothed virgin having sex in a city
- Verses 25-27 are about a man raping a betrothed virgin in the countryside
- Verses 28-29 are about a man having sex with an unbetrothed virgin
The first two laws are usually interpreted as being about virginity (they’re not) and the last three are often linked with rape (rightly and wrongly).
With that in mind, and other Old Testament laws and stories, I’ve grouped posts into the following sub-categories: Virginity, Rape and Adultery.
If you’re wondering why there are posts here about the New Testament, that’s because the passages I’m looking at make deep and intentional references to the Old Testament.
About virginity in the Old Testament (and Deuteronomy 22:13–21)
- Paul’s letter to his prodigal daughter (and the paradigm shift hidden within 2 Corinthians 10–13)
- Proving My Virginity: Deuteronomy, Pap Smears, and the Hymen Myth
- The prodigal and prostitutes – and the surprise gender-flip in Jesus’s parable
- Five things I’d explain to a teenage girl if she asked about Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (assuming she has the courage to)
- Honour, not sex. Why applying Deuteronomy 22 is more complex than you thought. And why this matters.
- How I used to interpret Deuteronomy 22:13-21, and how I explain it now (in fewer than 500 words)
- About that virginity test in Deuteronomy 22: it’s not what you think
- Why do (some) evangelicals insist that all sex outside marriage is ‘sexual immorality’? Because it’s not in the Bible.
About rape and consent in the Old Testament (and Deuteronomy 22:23–29)
- Five things worth knowing about the woman in the city who ‘did not cry out’. On Deuteronomy 22:23–24 (and 25–27)
- Honour, not sex. Why applying Deuteronomy 22 is more complex than you thought. And why this matters.
- Why do I care so much about Old Testament laws? (And the rape laws in particular)
- Remember that Deuteronomy 22 law where a girl marries her rapist? It’s not about marriage. Or sex.
- Ruth and Joseph: A closer look at love vs abuse
- Love vs Abuse: a drama sketch about Boaz and Ruth, Joseph and Potiphar’s wife
About adultery in the Old Testament
- What was the Hebrew word when David committed adultery and does it imply anything about Bathsheba’s consent?
- Honour, not sex. Why applying Deuteronomy 22 is more complex than you thought. And why this matters.
