Deuteronomy 22:26
But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:
Deuteronomy 22:26 stands within Deuteronomy's rehearsal of the law for the new generation of Israel. The wording translated as slaying him renders the Hebrew expression for smiting the soul, which shows that soul can denote the person who is killed and is subject to death. The word translated him denotes the person himself, in the comparison to a man rising up against his neighbor and killing him.
The case is that of a betrothed woman overpowered by force in the field, where she could not escape or obtain help. To her nothing is to be done and no punishment is to be laid upon her, for in her there is no sin worthy of death. The guilt rests on the man alone, and he must die, while she is cleared as bearing no guilt deserving death. The matter is reckoned just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, so that her position is that of the innocent victim of murder and his attack is treated as murderous violence.
In spiritual application the betrothed woman pictures Zion as betrothed to the Prince of Peace, who when the adversary through his agent seeks to draw her away from her Lord can take refuge in the Lord. As an instance of theocratic penalty, the law shows that civil governments are not to claim authority to enforce divine law as if they were a theocracy.