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1 ‎[1] One who seduces a virgin maiden is fined fifty sela'im pure silver and this is a fine. And if he raped her the same penalty would be levied. This fine is a positive commandment from the Torah, as it says "the man who lay with her shall pay the girl’s father fifty [shekels of] silver": ‎[2] What is considered seduction and what is considered rape? Seduction is an encounter she desired. Rape is when he has relations with her against her will. Any woman who has relations in the field is presumed to have been raped and we treat such a case as a rape case until witnesses testify that she had relations of her own volition. And any woman who has relations in the city is presumed to have been seduced since she did not cry out in distress, unless witnesses testify that she was raped, for example if a man drew his sword and said "if you scream I will kill you." ‎[3] The seduced woman who doesn't want to marry her seducer, or if her father did not want her to wed him, or if the seducer didn't want to enter [into marriage]- the seducer pays the [fifty sela'im] penalty and goes on his way and we don't force him to marry her. However if he does want to marry her, he doesn't pay a fine rather he writes her a ketubah like one would for any virgin maiden. However regarding the woman who was raped, if she or her father don't want her to marry her rapist they can decline collect the [fifty sela'im] penalty and go on their way. If she and her father want her to marry her rapist but the rapist doesn't want to marry her, we force him to marry her and he has to pay the penalty, as it states: "she shall be his wife" and this is a positive commandment. Even if she is lame, blind, or has leprosy he is forced to marry her and he cannot divorce her forever, as it is stated: "he shall never have the right to divorce her." This is a negative commandment. ‎[4] And this woman does not get a ketubah, since the only reason the Rabbis instituted a ketubah for a woman was so that she would not be viewed lightly and easy to divorce in her husband's eyes. And this husband (her rapist) is not allowed to divorce her. ‎[5] If the girl he raped was forbidden to him, even if the reason is from a positive commandment, or id she were a shn'iyah (ie forbidden via Rabbinic prohibition) he should not marry her. Furthermore, if he witnesses immoral behavior of hers after he married her he should divorce her. As it states: "she shall be his wife." Namely a woman who is (halachically) fit for him. ‎[6] A High Priest who raped or seduced a virgin maiden, is not allowed to marry her because he is commanded to marry a virgin maiden and when the time comes to marry her she is no longer a virgin maiden. If they did marry, he must give her a get. ‎[7] Even though it says by a rapist: "he shall never have the right to divorce her" since [this negative commandment] is preceded by a positive commandment of: "she shall be his wife" this is a negative commandment that can be fixed by fulfilling the positive commandment. Thus, lashes are only administered if he does not fulfill the associated positive commandment like I will explain in The Laws of Sanhedrin. Therefore a rapist who sinned by divorcing his wife is forced to return to her and we don't give him lashes. However if his divorcée dies before he could remarry her, or she became betrothed to someone else, or if he was a Kohein who's forbidden from marrying a divorcée- he would get lashes since he violated a negative commandment and he is unable to fulfill the accompanying positive commandment. ‎[8] The rapist or seducer isn't obligated to pay the fine until he has relations with her [in the ordinary fashion] with witnesses present, and he doesn't need to be forewarned. At what age is the girl eligible to receive the fine? After she is three full years until she reaches bagrus (twelve and a half). If she had relations before she was three this is not considered relations. If one were to have relations with her from when she's reaches bagrus there is no fine, as it states "virgin maiden" and not "bogeres". ‎[9] Whether she has a father or doesn't have a father there still is the fine. These women do not collect the fine: a bogeres (twelve and a half), a girl who has dissolved a marriage via mi'un, a woman who does not display biologically mature female characteristics, a mentally incompetent girl, a deaf mute, and a girl who had a bad name (ie reputation) when she was younger and two witnesses testified that she wanted to engage in relations with them, and a woman divorced from nisuin (chuppah, final stage of marriage) who is still a virgin maiden. However a woman divorced from eirusin (engagement, first part of marriage) if she was raped she's eligible to receive the fine, and she keeps the payment of the fine. However if she was seduced she's not entitled to the fine. ‎[10] A convert, a girl who was taken captive, and a freed maidservant- if they converted, were redeemed or freed and she is three years old or less she can collect the fine. If she was three years old and a one day [ie older] when she converted, was freed, or redeemed she is not eligible to collect the fine. Since relations she has after this age are considered significant, she is like other non-virgins. ‎[11] If the virgin maiden was forbidden to the rapist or the seducer- if this prohibition's punishment was kareis, for example: his sister, his aunt, a niddah or similar types of unions- or she was forbidden to him due to a negative commandment [ie one that does not carry with it the penalty of kareis or death] if he was warned, he is administered lashes and doesn't pay the fine since a person isn't punished via both lashes and a monetary payment. However, if he was not warned, since he isn't liable for lashes he does pay the fine. ‎[12] If the woman was forbidden to him due to a positive commandment, or she was a sh'niyah or something similar that made her forbidden due to a Rabbinic enactment, whether he was or wasn't warned he is obligated to pay the fine since in these cases there is no punishment via lashes. ‎[13] If the woman was forbidden to him due to a punishment of death by Beis Din, for example: his daughter, daughter-in-law, or similar- whether he was or wasn't warned he is exempt from paying the fine, as it states (Exodus 21:22): "If there will not be a [fatal] accident, he should be punished" the implication being that there was a fatal accident, no punishment would be administered. Even though this woman was killed unintentionally, the man didn't intend [to hurt] her as it is written [Ibid.]: "When men fight, and one of them pushes a woman" we learn from here that the Torah doesn't differentiate between an intentional and unintentional action to exempt him from a monetary obligation. And it says (Leviticus 24:18): "A person who fatally strikes an animal shall reimburse", and (Leviticus 24:21): "one who fatally strikes a person shall die." Just as by the killing of an animal the Torah didn't differentiate between an intentional and unintentional action regarding him be make him liable for payment, so too by the killing a person the Torah didn't differentiate between an intentional and unintentional to exempt him from payment. ‎[14] And this is the law regarding every transgression that carries a punishment of death by Beis Din- there is no financial obligation. ‎[15] If [the rapist or seducer] has relations with her and she dies, he is exempt from the fine, as it states (Deuteronomy 22:29): "the man who lay with her must give to the maiden's father"and not "the father of the dead maiden." This case is referring to when she died before the case would be brought to court.
Version: Sefaria Community Translation
Source: https://www.sefaria.org
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