Exodus 21:28

_IF AN OX GORE A MAN OR A WOMAN, THAT THEY DIE: THEN THE OX SHALL BE SURELY STONED, AND HIS FLESH SHALL NOT BE EATEN; BUT THE OWNER OF THE OX SHALL BE QUIT._ If an ox gore a man. For the purpose of sanctifying human blood, and representing all injuries affecting life in a serious light, an animal that occasioned death was to be killed, or suffer punishment proportioned to the degree of damage it had caused. Verse 29. BUT IF THE OX WERE WONT TO PUSH ... AND IT HATH BEEN TESTIFIED TO HIS OWNER. According to Jewish writers, this notification required to be done three separate times before a magistrate. BUT THAT HE HATH KILLED A MAN OR A WOMAN - who was free (cf. Exodus 21:32). Verse 30. IF THERE BE LAID ON HIM A SUM OF MONEY - as some sort of compensation for the loss of a relative, the amount being determined either by the Go'el, the blood-

28._If an ox gore a man_. Moses now descends even to the brute animals, so that, if they injured any one, by their punishment men may be more and more deterred from shedding blood. If, therefore, a goring ox have killed a man, he commands that it should be stoned, and that its carcass should be thrown away as abominable. Though censorious persons mock at this law, as if it were childish to punish a wretched animal, in which there is no criminality, their insolence requires but a brief refutation. For, since oxen were created for man’s good, so we need not wonder that their death, as well as their life, should be made to contribute to the public advantage. If, then, an ox that had killed a, man should be kept, men would undoubtedly grow hardened in cruelty by beholding it; and to eat its flesh, would be almost the same thing as eating the flesh of man. The cruelty of men, therefore, could...

22-36 The cases here mentioned give rules of justice then, and still in use, for deciding similar matters. We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by us....

Verse Exodus 21:28. _IF AN OX GORE A MAN_] It is more likely that a _bull_ is here intended, as the word signifies _both_, see Exodus 22:1; and the Septuagint translate the שור _shor_ of the original by ταυρος, _a_ _bull_. Mischief of this kind was provided against by most nations. It appears that the Romans _twisted hay about the horns_ of their dangerous cattle, that people seeing it might shun them; hence that saying of Horace. Sat., lib. i., sat. 4, ver. 34: _Faenum_ _habet in cornu, longe fuge_. "He has hay on his horns; fly for life!" The laws of the _twelve tables_ ordered, _That the owner of_ _the beast should pay for what damages he committed, or deliver him_ _to the person injured_....

The animal was slain as a tribute to the sanctity of human life (Compare the marginal references and Genesis 4:11). It was stoned, and its flesh was treated as carrion. Guilty negligence on the part of its owner was reckoned a capital offence, to be commuted for a fine. In the case of a slave, the payment was the standard price of a slave, thirty shekels of silver. See Leviticus 25:44; Leviticus 27:3, and the marginal references for the New Testament application of this fact....

EXPOSITION THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT.—_Continued_. I. _Laws connected with the rights of persons_ (Exodus 21:1). The regulations of this section concern— 1. Slavery (Exodus 21:2); 2. Murder and other kinds of homicide (Exodus 21:12-2 and Exodus 21:20, Exodus 21:21); 3. Man-stealing ...

IF AN OX GORE A MAN OR A WOMAN, THAT THEY DIE,.... That are Israelites, of whom only Aben Ezra interprets it; but though they may be principally designed, yet not solely; for no doubt if one of another nation was gored to death by the ox of an Israelite, the same penalty would be inflicted, as follows: THEN THE OX SHALL BE SURELY STONED; which is but an exemplification of the original law given to Noah and his sons, Genesis 9:5: "at the hand of every beast will I require it"; i.e. the blood of the lives of men; which shows the care God takes of them, that even a beast must die that is the means of shedding man's blood: AND HIS FLESH SHALL NOT BE EATEN; it being as an impure beast according to this sentence, as Maimonides l observes; and even though it might have been killed in a regular manner before it was stoned, it was not to be eaten; no, not even by He

CHAPTER 21 DIFFERENT JUDGMENTS _ 1. Master and servant (Exodus 21:1)_ 2. Concerning injury to the person (Exodus 21:12) 3. Concerning property (Exodus 21:33) The Three Chapter s which follow the giving of the Ten Commandments give the practical application of the Decalogue in the daily life. The duties towards the fellowman are demonstrated in part. There are seven sections to these three Chapter s; each section contains ten precepts. The servant occupies the first place. He was to obtain his freedom for nothing after serving six years. In Deuteronomy we read that the master is commanded not to let him go empty-handed, but give him of his flock, his threshing floor and his winepress.

EXODUS 21:28 E. DAMAGES BY OR TO CATTLE. An ox goring anyone to death must be stoned, and might not be eaten, as tainted with blood-guilt (Exodus 21:28). In ancient Greece and elsewhere, and even in mediæ val Europe, animals were tried in court. But the owner of an ox known to be vicious, and yet left at large, must die, or pay a fine to the relatives (Exodus 21:29 f.), the same rule holding good of a minor of either sex (Exodus 21:31). A slave's death required a fine of 30 shekels (worth £ 4, 2 Samuel 6 d. now, and much more then) and the ox's death. These two ...

Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33 _The Book of the Covenant_ The -Book of the Covenant" (see Exodus 24:7 in explanation of the name) is the oldest piece of Hebrew legislation that we possess. The laws contained in it are spoken of in Exodus 24:3 as consisting of two elements, the WORDS (or commands) and the JUDGEMENTS: the JUDGEMENTS (see on Exodus 21:1) are the provisions relating to civil and criminal law, prescribing what is to be done when particular cases arise, and comprised in...