cellio | daf bit: Ketubot 38

The ketubah (marriage document) is in large part a financial contract, and the tractate discussing ketubot naturally leads to other financial aspects of marriage -- and non-marriage. A mishna on today's daf teaches: if a man sleeps with a girl who was betrothed and then divorced (before the marriage was completed), there is a dispute about whether he pays a fine. If she were married that would be adultery; if she were never married he would have to marry her unless she objected; this case is in between. (The text does specifically say "girl", not "woman", though the role her age plays isn't elaborated here.)

R. Yose says he does not pay a fine, but R. Akiva says that not only does he pay a fine but it belongs to her, not to her father. Why is her divorced status important? Because if she were betrothed and not divorced there would be no fine for a different reason -- that's a death-penalty offense for him (adultery starts from betrothal not marriage), and a man who is liable for death by the court does not also pay fines. (38a) This last point is based on Exodus 21:22-23. (36b)

It appears that the purpose of a fine is punishment, not compensation, and the rule is that there is one punishment per transgression. In other cases (like theft, and I think property damage) there are compensatory payments, like paying back the value plus some extra, but this appears to be different. I don't understand this yet.