God does not hold babies in low esteem and does not think little of them otherwise Jesus would not have called the children to Him when his disciples told them to go away. Matt.19:13-15. That verse you are talking about is when Moses was giving the people the laws and consequences of how God wanted them to live. (I'm not talking about the 10 comm.) 

Well mummau55,

You are so very right. I've checked the NIV translation as well. It says the same thing that the woman gave birth prematurely. Guess, we always need to check with other versions because the Old English is sometimes just too difficult to understand. 

changed on Friday, August 17, 2001 8:50:04 PM

God puts extreme value on human life. This verse is saying that if men are fighting and hurt a woman so that she gives birth to the baby prematurely and the baby is NOT hurt, the men should still be punished as the husband determines and the courts allow. This is an incident where the baby is not harmed in any way ("no mischief follow"). NKJV has a good translation of this. 

changed on Friday, August 17, 2001 1:05:22 PM

If we read this in the context we find that if any harm comes to the child then the man will pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, etc. This is the protection that the Old Testament law gave human life. 

I've thought about this question. This is not a revelation but just a thought:

I've known women who have miscarriages easily. It is like having a baby is a very fragile thing. So, if a woman is hurt while men are fighting and she has a miscarriage but she herself is not hurt, perhaps, they did not do it intentionally. But if she is seriously hurt, then they might have done a more serious injury and therefore are required to pay life for life.

Those are my thoughts.