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 concludes, that impurities, incests, and adulteries, are equal to murder, to capital cases relating to life and death.
Hilchot Yesode Hattorah, c. 5. sect.