Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 22:16

"And if a man entice a virgin that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife." — Exodus 22:16 (ASV)

If a man entice a maid. —The seduction of a maiden is regarded more seriously in earlier communities than in more advanced communities. The father expected to receive a handsome sum (ἕδνα) from the man to whom he consented to betroth his virgin daughter; and required compensation if his daughter’s eligibility as a wife was diminished. If the seducer were a person to whom he felt it a degradation to marry his daughter, he might exact from him such a sum as would be likely to induce another to wed her; if he was one whom he could accept as a son-in-law, he might compel him to re-establish his daughter’s status by marriage. It might be well if modern societies would imitate the Mosaic code on this point by some similar proviso.

He shall surely endow her —that is, pay the customary sum to the father. See Deuteronomy 22:29, where the sum is fixed at fifty shekels of silver.