Holiness ought to govern sexual ethics within Israel. In this instance, a man has sexual intercourse with a slave girl who is promised to another man. In Deuteronomy 22:23–24, the Lord stipulated that if both perpetrators were free, then both should be put to death. On this occasion, however, provision is made for the slave girl.
20 “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free;