But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing,.... Neither fine her, nor beat her, and much less punish her with death: there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death; because what was done to her was done without her will and consent, and was what she was forced to submit unto; but the Targum of Jonathan adds, that the man to whom she was betrothed might dismiss her from himself by a bill of divorce: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter; as when a man comes unawares upon another, and lays hold on him, and kills him, being stronger than he, and none to help; so is the case of a woman laid hold on by a man in a field, and ravished by him, where no help could be had; and depriving a woman of her chastity is like taking away a man's life; from this passage Maimonides (c) concludes, that impurities, incests, and adulteries, are equal to murder, to capital cases relating to life and death. (c) Hilchot Yesode Hattorah, c. 5. sect. 10.