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Ramban on Exodus 21:22/רמב"ן על שמות כ״א:כ״ב

אכַּאֲשֶׁר יָשִׁית עָלָיו בַּעַל הָאִשָּׁה כְּשֶׁיִּתְבָּעֶנּוּ הַבַּעַל בב"ד לְהָשִׁית עָלָיו עֹנֶשׁ עַל כָּךְ. לְשׁוֹן רַשִׁ"י (רש"י על שמות כ"א:כ"ב). וְנָכוֹן הוּא. וְכֵן "כַּאֲשֶׁר יִיטַב לָךְ" (בראשית מ יד), וְרַבִּים כָּכָה. וְהַכַּוָּנָה, כִּי הוּא חַיָּב בִּדְמֵי הַוְּלָדוֹת כַּאֲשֶׁר יָשִׁית עָלָיו הַבַּעַל, וְלֹא כַּאֲשֶׁר תָּשִׁית עָלָיו הָאִשָּׁה, כִּי אֵין לָהּ חֵלֶק וּזְכוּת בָּהֶן. אֲבָל אוּנְקְלוֹס (תרגום אונקלוס על שמות כ"א:כ"ב) תִּרְגֵּם "כַּמָּה דִּי יְשַׁוֵּי עֲלוֹהִי". וְאָמַר ר"א כְּכָל אֲשֶׁר יָשִׁית עָלָיו בַּעַל הָאִשָּׁה אוֹ יִתֵּן בִּפְלִילִים. כְּאִלּוּ אָמַר שֶׁיִּתְפַּשֵּׁר עִמּוֹ לִרְצוֹנוֹ, אוֹ יְשַׁלֵּם כְּדֵי דְּמֵיהֶן עַל פִּי ב"ד. וְאֵינֶנּוּ נָכוֹן, כִּי מָה טַעַם לְהַזְכִּיר זֶה. וּלְפִי דַּעְתִּי, בַּעֲבוּר שֶׁאֵין בַּוְּלָדוֹת הֶזֵּק נִכָּר, כִּי מִי יוֹדֵעַ אִם יַצְלִיחוּ, אָמַר הַכָּתוּב אע"פ שֶׁאֵין כָּאן מָמוֹן תַּשְׁלוּמִין, נָשִׂים עָלָיו עֹנֶשׁ, וְהוּא כְּמוֹ קְנָס וּמָמוֹן שֶׁיַּטִּילוּ אֲחֵרִים עָלָיו עַל כָּרְחוֹ. וְכֵן "וַיִּתֶּן עֹנֶשׁ עַל הָאָרֶץ" (מלכים ב כ"ג:ל"ג), "וְיֵין עֲנוּשִׁים יִשְׁתּוּ" (עמוס ב ח). וְאָמַר שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הָעֹנֶשׁ כְּכָל אֲשֶׁר יָשִׁית עָלָיו בַּעַל הָאִשָּׁה, שֶׁהוּא חָפֵץ בִּילָדָיו, וַחֲשׁוּבִים הֵם אֶצְלוֹ, וְיִתֵּן זֶה בִּפְלִילִים, שֶׁלֹּא יִתֵּן עָלָיו עֹנֶשׁ יוֹתֵר מִכְּדֵי דְּמֵיהֶן. וּבַמְּכִילְתָּא (כאן) "כַּאֲשֶׁר יָשִׁית עָלָיו", שׁוֹמֵעַ אֲנִי כָּל מַה שֶׁיִּרְצֶה, ת"ל "וְנָתַן בִּפְלִילִים", וְאֵין פְּלִילִים אֶלָּא דַּיָּנִים:

1AND IF MEN STRIVE TOGETHER, AND HURT A WOMAN WITH CHILD, SO THAT HER FRUIT DEPART, AND YET NO HARM FOLLOW, HE SHALL BE SURELY FINED, ‘KA’ASHER’ THE WOMAN’S HUSBAND SHALL LAY UPON HIM. “This means: ‘when’¹⁴⁵ in the word ka’asher not in the sense of “as,” indicating degree or extent (“according as”), but in the sense of “when” — when the woman’s husband takes him to court. the husband will summon him before the court in order that they put a fine on him for it.” Thus far Rashi’s language. And it is correct [to interpret here the letter kaf in the word ka’asher as meaning “when”, and not “as”]. A similar case is the expression, ‘ka’asher’ (when) it shall be well with thee,¹⁴⁶ and there are many other such cases. And the intention of the verse is that the assailant has to pay compensation for the miscarriage when the husband takes him to court, not when the woman does so, as the compensation is not hers. Onkelos, however, translated: “according to the amount [that the woman’s husband] shall lay upon him.”Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained the verse as follows: according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him, or¹⁴⁷, which is generally translated “and he shall pay” — as the judges determine, Ibn Ezra interprets to mean “or he shall pay,” and the purport thereof is as explained in the text. he shall pay as the judges determine, as if to say that the assailant should come to agreement with the husband on a fixed sum, or he should pay compensation as the court will assess him. This is not correct, for what reason is there to mention this?¹⁴⁸In my opinion, since the damage done is one that is not discernible in the unborn children themselves — for who could know their fortune — therefore Scripture said, that although he cannot be made to pay a precise monetary compensation, he should nonetheless be fined as a sort of penalty in the form of a sum of money¹⁴⁹ which others [i.e., the judges] shall impose upon him. A similar usage [of the term onesh — punishment] is also found in these verses: and he put the land to ‘onesh’ (a fine);¹⁵⁰ they drink the wine of them that have been ‘anushim’ (fined).¹⁵¹ Scripture is thus stating that the punishment be entirely as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him, because he desires his children and they are important to him, but he [i.e., the husband] should fix the sum through the judges, in order that he should not impose upon him an exorbitant sum. In the words of the Mechilta:¹³⁶, “According as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him. I might think this to mean, whatever he pleases; Scripture therefore says, and he shall pay as the ‘pelilim’ determine, and pelilim always means judges.”