And if an ox gore a man or a woman, so that they die, then the ox shall certainly be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be guiltless.
Israel has just received the Ten Commandments. A long list of practical rulings follows. One of them covers a case every farmer feared: a working animal kills a person. The verse settles three things at once: the ox dies, no one eats it, and the owner walks away clear.
The closing laws of Exodus 21 all follow one standard:
The rest of the chapter is taken up with judgments connected with the ownership of cattle, and the violent acts they may commit, or the violence they may suffer. Everything is to be settled on a strictly righteous basis.
The law does not leave these cases to the mood of the injured family or to local custom.
An ox has no moral sense. It cannot be guilty in the way a murderer is guilty. Yet the ox still dies. The reason goes back long before Moses, to what God said to Noah after the flood:
Man's life has a value attached to it never before declared; and the more so because now for the first time it was for government, responsible to God, to uphold it. "And surely your blood, the blood of your lives, will I require." Even if a mere animal with no reasoning soul killed a human creature, that was no reason to pass it by. "At the hand of every animal will I require it; at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made He man" (Gen. 9:3-6).
Genesis 9 is quoted here, and again below, from an older translation than the ESV.
The animal does not die for a crime of its own. It dies because of the worth of the life it took.
A dead ox was still valuable meat. The law puts it out of reach:
If an ox gored a person to death, the people had to stone it to death, and no one was to eat its meat. The law did not hold the owner responsible unless someone had warned him that his ox was dangerous.
No one eats the animal, so no one gains from a human death. The dead ox is a total loss, and the owner carries that loss even though he did no wrong.
Being cleared is not a licence to ignore a dangerous animal. Where the owner knew and did nothing, the law goes much further:
The law requires the death of the owner too, and not only of the ox, if he knew about the animal's dangerous habit and made no provision to guard against it (v. 29). How vividly this brings to our minds the truth our blessed Lord taught: even the hairs of our heads are all numbered. The law provides for everything. It fits every relationship, and every breach of it, into the righteous government God had now placed Israel under.
The same God who counts hairs writes rules for stray cattle. Detail is not beneath Him.
One writer takes this principle straight into the modern argument over the death penalty:
But when a beast kills a man, God says, "at the hand of every beast will I require it." We see here that God maintains His title to life, even a beast's life... We all know that many are seeking to do away with capital punishment; but what do they care about God? The whole order of God is broken up now. Even a beast that kills should die. Genesis 9:6 gives the reason: "In the image of God He made man"; so it holds true right to the end.
- Image — The whole law rests on one fact: God made man in His own image. So He requires man's blood at the hand of man, and at the hand of every beast.
- Ox — Because of that image, the animal that kills a person must die. A beast has no reasoning soul and cannot be guilty like a murderer. Israel stones it all the same.
- Flesh — No one may eat the meat, so no one profits from a human death. The loss of the ox falls on the owner, even when the law clears him.
- Owner — He goes free only where he had no warning; if he knew his ox was dangerous and left it loose, his own life was forfeit.
- Government — God's righteous rule reaches down to stray cattle. The same care numbers the hairs of your head. And His claim on human life still stands, whatever men decide about it today.
But if the ox have gored heretofore, and it have been testified to its owner, and he have not kept it in, and it kill a man or a woman, -- the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:29 turns an accident into a crime: the same goring ox, but this time the owner had been warned and did nothing. The penalty jumps from "no liability" to death, which raises two questions: why does knowing change everything, and why does God make laws about a farm animal?
Verse 28 deals with an ox nobody could have predicted. Verse 29 deals with an ox everyone knew about. The full rule, including the way out allowed in the next verse, runs like this:
An ox that gored anyone to death had to be stoned, and no one could eat its meat. The owner was not responsible unless someone had warned him that his ox was dangerous. In this case, if he had not kept the ox penned in and the ox killed anyone, the owner as well as the ox was to be put to death (v. 29). But this penalty could be lifted if the victim's nearest relative agreed to accept ransom money instead.
The owner never touched the victim. What condemns him is that he knew the animal's habit and left the gate open anyway. The law answers his failure with an exact equivalent — his life for the life lost:
The same principle of righteous equivalence applies in these cases too. The owner's death, as well as the ox's, is required if he had guilty knowledge of the animal's tendency and had made no provision to guard against it (v. 29). How vividly this brings before our minds the truth taught by our blessed Lord, that even the hairs of our heads are all numbered. Everything is provided for. Every relationship, and every break in it, is set in order in harmony with the righteous government Israel now lived under.
Notice what God is willing to handle Himself. The God who governs the universe settles a dispute about a farm animal:
These laws give us some idea of what a kingdom governed by laws of God's own appointing is like. Here we may see the amazing humility of Him who is the great God of heaven and earth. He still stoops to judge between one man and another about the death of an ox, the loan of a garment, or the loss of a servant's tooth. He governs the universe, and yet He can occupy Himself with providing a covering for one of His creatures. He guides the angel's flight and takes notice of a crawling worm.
A rule like this only works if it binds the rich landowner as much as the poor neighbour who lost his wife. That is what these laws guarantee:
On God's part, we find Him enacting laws which show strict, even-handed, perfect justice. God provided for everything, maintained every interest, and met every claim. There was no partiality — no distinction made between the rich and the poor. The scales that weighed each man's claim were set with divine accuracy, so no one could fairly complain about a decision. The stroke of justice fell only on the guilty, while every obedient person kept the safe enjoyment of all his rights and privileges.
Behind all this detail lies care for human life:
God requires the most careful obedience to His demands here, just as He does in the laws about persons we have already looked at. Those laws display His tender and compassionate care for the lives and persons of His people. So every part of their lives is taken into account, with a fullness of detail that is remarkable and worthy of God.
These laws carry a second, darker witness. A rule against leaving a killer animal loose exists only because people do it:
Jehovah had to make laws against certain crimes, and that proves man is capable of committing them. If the capability and the tendency were not there, there would be no need for the laws... Those very laws prove, beyond all question, that the most refined and cultured person carries in his heart the seeds of the very darkest and most horrifying evils.
- Warned. The ox had a record and the owner had been told. Everything in the verse turns on that word.
- Guilty. Knowing the danger and making no provision against it puts the owner under the same sentence as the ox.
- Weighed. The God who governs the universe weighs a case about an ox. Wealth buys no favour, and no one can complain of the verdict.
- Ransomed. The death sentence could be lifted if the victim's nearest relative accepted a payment instead.
- Exposed. A law is written only because the crime is possible. Every rule here shows what the human heart can do.
If there be imposed on him a satisfaction, then he shall give the ransom of his life, according to what is imposed on him.
An ox already known to gore has killed someone, and the previous verse puts its owner under a death sentence. Now the law opens a door: a payment may stand in place of his life — and that payment carries the Old Testament's own word for atonement.
The owner's guilt turns on what he already knew. One writer sets out the sequence:
An ox that gored anyone to death was to be stoned to death, and the meat of the ox not eaten. The owner of the ox would not be held responsible unless he had been warned that his ox was dangerous. In this case, if he had not kept the ox penned in and the ox killed anyone, the owner as well as the ox was to be put to death (v. 29). This penalty could however be relaxed if the nearest relative of the victim would agree to accept ransom money instead (vv. 30-31).
The payment is not a loophole in a careless system. Nothing in these laws is left unsettled:
The same principle of righteous equivalent also applies in these directions… Everything is provided for, and every relationship, with its various breaches, adjusted in harmony with the righteous government under which Israel was now placed.
The ESV says "ransom" here; older translations say "sum of money." One writer traces the Hebrew word behind that phrase:
The words "sum of money" are the translation of kopher, a form of kaphar, to cover, the word for atonement.
So the verse shows what atonement is: a price that covers a forfeited life, so the guilty man lives.
A ransom stands in for the offender, yet it has a limit. Money could cover this man's negligence. Nothing could be taken for a murderer's life:
Expiation is the satisfaction itself: what takes the wrath, what is devoted and made the curse, standing in for the offender, so that he goes free. And here the noun kopher comes to let light in on the inquiry. It is translated "ransom, satisfaction," and in 1 Samuel 12:3 a "bribe." So in Exodus 21:30 a kopher (translated "sum of money") is laid on a man to save his life, where his ox had killed his neighbour. But in Numbers 35:31 no kopher was to be taken for the life of a murderer. The land cannot be cleansed, kaphar, except by the blood of the man who shed blood as a murderer (v. 33). This clearly shows the force of kopher and of kaphar. The satisfaction offered suits the eye and mind of Him who is displeased and who judges. Through it come purging of the offence, cleansing, forgiveness, and favour, according to Him who takes account of the evil.
Notice too that the guilty man never names his own price. The verse says it is imposed on him.
No one can buy a brother out of death. What no man could give, God found:
No one can "ransom another, or give to God the price of his life" (Psalm 49:7). But God could say, "Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom" (Job 33:24)… In the New Testament it is lytron, or antilytron, from "to loose, set free." Christ gave Himself, His life, a ransom for many: the precious blood of Christ witnesses that every claim of God against the believer has been answered (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6).
A victim's family could accept silver. A death sentence itself has no such price:
And what will lift the forfeit of death? This is the supreme question. The death sentence stands alone in its gravity and weight. We have never heard of the death sentence having any alternative equivalent. There is no alternative to it in the eyes of law, because it has no equivalent. Nothing but DEATH can meet the death sentence.
- Forfeit. A man was warned that his ox was dangerous and did nothing. When it killed, he owed his own life.
- Ransom. Verse 30 allows a price to stand in place of that life, accepted by the victim's nearest relative.
- Covering. The word for that price, kopher, comes from kaphar, "to cover" — the Bible's word for atonement.
- Limit. A ransom could cover negligence. Numbers 35:31 allowed none for a murderer, because the satisfaction must suit the One who judges.
- Fulfilment. No man can ransom another (Psalm 49:7), yet God said, "I have found a ransom" (Job 33:24) — Christ gave His life a ransom for many.
Whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done to him.
The law about a dangerous ox runs from verse 28 to verse 32, and this verse covers the case of a child killed by the ox. It raises two questions: why God named the son or daughter at all, and what the money paid in place of a life teaches.
Verse 31 points back to the rule just given. Here is how that rule worked:
An ox that gored someone to death had to be stoned, and no one was to eat its meat. The owner of the ox was not responsible unless someone had warned him that his ox was dangerous. In this case, if he had not kept the ox penned in and the ox killed anyone, both the owner and the ox had to die (v. 29). However, the nearest relative of the victim could agree to accept ransom money instead of this penalty (vv. 30-31).
A son or a daughter is not a lesser case with a lesser penalty. The same judgment, with the same option of ransom, covers them.
These rules can look like small print about farm animals. One writer finds in their detail a picture of God's care over everything:
The same principle of righteous equivalent also holds good in these directions. Even the owner must die, along with the ox, if he knew the animal's tendency and had made no provision to guard against it (v. 29). This brings home to us the truth our blessed Lord taught: even the hairs of our heads are all numbered. The law provides for everything. It fits every relationship, and every way a relationship can be broken, into the righteous government God had now placed Israel under.
Verse 30 allows a payment in place of the owner's life. Older translations call it "a sum of money"; the ESV reads "if a ransom is imposed on him." The Hebrew word behind it matters:
The words "sum of money" are the translation of kopher, a form of kaphar, to cover, the word for atonement.
So the owner lives only because a payment covers what he owes. This verse extends that covering to the death of a child.
The justice here is measured, and it is not merciful:
We find here the true character of law. Grace is absent. It is eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth… Law demands an exact equivalent — no more, and no less. But grace can remit every claim. We ourselves have been dealt with in grace, our whole debt remitted, so we must act on the same principle toward one another. But never forget this: the foundation of grace itself lies deep in righteousness. That is why it reigns through righteousness (Romans 5:21), on a basis that is everlasting and unchanging.
This is why the verse can allow a payment and still be strict. The ransom does not cancel the claim; it meets it.
An older ruling stands behind this whole section. God gave it to Noah, long before Israel had any law:
God alone knows the heart of man, and He has pronounced it "deceitful above all things and desperately sick." When He gave Noah the government of the earth, He provided for the preservation of man's life in the most solemn terms — terms no human law can set aside: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."
A child killed by a neighbour's ox is no small loss. That child bears God's image, and God Himself guards that life.
- Image — Man bears God's image, so God guards his life. He said this to Noah long before Israel had a law, and no human law can set it aside.
- Equal — A son or a daughter falls under exactly the same judgment as a man or a woman. The law does not rate a child's life lower.
- Negligent — The owner is liable only where he knew his ox was dangerous and did nothing. Guilty knowledge, not mere misfortune, brings the death penalty.
- Covered — The money that spares him is kopher, from the word meaning to cover — the word for atonement. A life is released because something is given in its place.
- Exact — This is law, not grace: an exact equivalent, no more and no less. Yet grace, which can remit every claim, rests on the same righteous foundation.
If the ox gore a bondman or a handmaid, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
One line of Israel's civil law fixes what an owner owes when his ox kills another man's servant. Men later weighed out that same figure, the going price of a servant, for the Son of God. So commentators read this verse as both law and prophecy.
One principle runs through the judgments in this chapter. The law measures each loss and holds each owner answerable for what is his. One writer shows how far that care reaches, down to an animal's known habits.
The same principle of righteous equivalent also applies in these directions. If the owner knew the animal's habit and did nothing to guard against it, the law puts him to death as well as the ox. This brings home to us the truth our blessed Lord taught: even the hairs of our heads are all numbered. The law provides for everything. It settles every relationship, and every way a relationship can be broken, to match the righteous government God had now placed Israel under.
Thirty was not a random number. Set beside the other valuations in the law, it marks where a servant stood.
Notice again the mention of the servant in verse 32. The price of a servant was thirty shekels of silver. The redemption price of a free Israelite was fifty shekels (Lev. 27:3); that of a slave, thirty shekels.
One writer sets this price beside the One it was paid for.
Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave who had been killed. Oh, what unfathomable love! The Lord from heaven became like a slave. The love He looked for He did not find. It was refused to Him, and instead He was insulted, mocked, and treated like a miserable slave.
Two accounts of the same bargain name different speakers. One writer explains why.
In Zechariah it is "I said to them," whereas in Matthew it is Judas who speaks to the chief priests (the representatives of the nation). This brings out a very interesting principle in the ways of God. It was Judas' sin that betrayed the Lord, but the Lord used the sin of Judas to test the chief priests as to their estimate of Christ, and so, passing by the intermediate instrument, He says, "I said to them, If it seems good to you, give me my wages." They did think it good. And what price did they set on Jesus, the Son of God, their Messiah? It was the value of a slave. That was the contemptuous price the Jewish leaders offered for the life of Him who was the Lord Himself, God with us. Who can fathom the grace beyond words that led the Father's only Son to submit Himself to such degradation? Here we see the heart of man, and the heart of God, and with them the need of redemption.
Judas was one of Jesus' twelve closest followers. He had every advantage a man could have, and sold them all for the sum this verse names.
He was one of the privileged twelve and treasurer of the group. The Son of God washed his feet and handed him the morsel from the dish. Yet he sold his Master to His murderers for a few pieces of silver — the amount of compensation for a slave gored by a bull (Ex. 21:32). Love of money was his ruin. It hardened his heart so completely that the Saviour's most touching appeals could not reach him.
No rage set this price. That is where its sting lies.
It was a sober business transaction, and in that lies its bitter contempt, its being unintended. They thought Him a wicked man, but even so, not worth more than a few shekels' reward. He felt this insult sharply, even among so many other terrible injuries. "And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver … Throw it to the potter — the lordly price at which I was valued by them!" (Zech. 11:12-13.) We often see twenty times as much offered for the capture of a common criminal. This was a long time ago. Yes, but there are millions of people around us who would not surrender even that much for the possession of Christ now.
- Measured — The law weighs every loss and holds the careless owner answerable. Nothing escapes this government, down to the hairs of our heads.
- Thirty — That measure fixes a servant's worth at thirty shekels. The law set the redemption of a free Israelite at fifty.
- Weighed — The same figure returns in Zechariah and in Matthew as the price agreed for Christ. Men priced the Lord from heaven like a slave.
- Tested — Judas did the bargaining. God used his sin to expose what the chief priests thought their Messiah was worth. That price shows the heart of man; the grace that accepted it shows the heart of God.
- Repeated — Love of money hardened Judas past every appeal. And that low price is not just history: millions today would not give even that much to have Christ.
-- And if a man open a pit, or if a man dig a pit, and do not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall into it,
A man digs a pit on his land, forgets to cover it, and his neighbour's animal dies in it — and God writes that into His law. It raises two questions. How far does a person's responsibility reach for harm he never meant to cause? And why does the Creator of the universe bother with a hole in the ground?
Commentators mark this verse as a turning point in the "judgments" that run from chapter 21 into chapter 23. The subject changes from bodies to belongings.
From Exodus 21:33 onwards we can see a difference in the character of God's judgments. These deal mainly with the possessions or property of the children of Israel. God calls for the same exact obedience to His demands here as He did over their persons, which we have already looked at. There He showed His tender and compassionate care for the lives and persons of His people. So God takes every part of their lives into account, in a detail so complete that it is remarkable and worthy of Him. As the psalmist says, He is "the God of my mercy" (Psalm 59:17).
The pit is on the man's own ground, and he has every right to dig it. The law still holds him liable, because he left it open. The next verse sets what he must pay.
While one rightly has control over his own property, yet he is also responsible as to how he uses it. If one were to dig a pit, even on his own property, and leave it uncovered, he would be responsible for an animal falling into it. If the animal died, the owner of the pit must pay the value of the animal, and could therefore keep the dead beast (v. 34).
The payment matches the loss exactly — no more, no less. That evenness runs through the whole set of rulings.
First, on God's part, we find Him making laws that show strict, even-handed, perfect justice. This was the character of the laws, the statutes and the judgments by which God governed His earthly kingdom of Israel. He provided for everything, He upheld every interest, and He met every claim. There was no partiality — no difference made between the rich and the poor. The balance that weighed each man's claim was set with divine accuracy, so no one could fairly complain about a decision.
A dead donkey is a small matter. That God should write a ruling about it says something about Him, not about the donkey.
Here, too, we see how amazingly He stoops down. He is the great God of heaven and earth, yet He will still judge between one man and another about the death of an ox, the loan of a garment, or the loss of a servant's tooth. "Who is like the Lord our God, who humbles Himself to look on the things that are in heaven and on earth?" He governs the universe, and yet He can take time to provide a covering for one of His creatures. He guides the angel's flight and takes notice of a crawling worm.
The law is not the rule of a believer's life. Even so, the moral force of these rulings outlasts it.
These statutes contain moral principles which are not affected by changes in God's dealings. The law is not the rule of the believer's life. Yet, as the Apostle says in Romans 8:3-4, "God … has condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit."
A related law required a low wall around a flat roof. The concern behind it reaches further than physical safety.
In a land of flat roofs, on which people commonly walked, the law required a low wall to protect anyone from falling (v. 8). This is proper concern for the safety of others. We should be concerned also that they be protected from spiritual dangers.
- Cover it. The fault is not digging the pit but leaving it open; the danger you create is yours to manage.
- Own it. Control over your own property does not cancel responsibility for how you use it.
- Pay it. The owner of the pit pays the animal's value and keeps the dead beast. The loss is matched exactly, with no favour to rich or poor.
- Widen it. From this verse on, the judgments turn to property. God's care covers every part of life, not just life and limb.
- Live it. The moral principle outlasts the covenant. Guard others from falling, in body and in spirit.
the owner of the pit shall make it good, shall give money to the owner of them; and the dead [ox] shall be his.
Exodus 21 is a run of case laws, and this one settles a small disaster: someone digs a pit, leaves it open, and a neighbour's animal falls in and dies. Why would God give a law about a hole in the ground?
The judgments in this chapter shift focus partway through, starting at the verse just before ours:
From Exodus 21:33 onwards, God's judgments have a different character. They deal mainly with the possessions or property of the children of Israel. God requires the most careful obedience here, just as He did in the laws about their persons... So every part of their lives is taken into account, with a fullness of detail that is truly remarkable and worthy of God.
A law about a dead animal can look beneath the dignity of God. Commentators read it the other way round:
Here, too, we can see the amazing condescension of God. He is the great God of heaven and earth, yet He can still stoop to judge between one man and another about the death of an ox, the loan of a garment, or the loss of a servant's tooth... He governs the universe, and yet He can occupy Himself with providing a covering for one of His creatures. He guides the angel's flight and takes notice of a crawling worm.
The pit may be dug on the digger's own ground. That changes nothing about who pays:
A man rightly has control over his own property, but he is still responsible for how he uses it. Suppose he digs a pit — even on his own land — and leaves it uncovered. He is responsible if an animal falls into it. If the animal died, the owner of the pit must pay the value of the animal, and could therefore keep the dead beast (v. 34).
He never pushed the ox in. He is answerable for what he left open.
The payment matches the loss exactly — nothing more, nothing less. That same balance runs through the whole section:
Again, the same principle of righteous equivalent also holds in these laws... Everything is provided for. Every relationship, and every breach of it, is settled in line with the righteous government Israel now lived under.
The same standard covered rich and poor alike:
There was no partiality — no distinction made between the rich and the poor. Each man's claim was weighed in a balance set with divine accuracy, so that no one had just grounds to complain about a decision.
The same duty appears in another law about preventing harm:
In a land of flat roofs, where people often walked, the law required a low wall around the edge to protect anyone from falling. This is proper concern for the safety of others. We should be concerned also that they be protected from spiritual dangers.
Do laws like this still bind Christians today?
These statutes contain moral principles which are unaffected by changes in God's dealings. While the law is not the rule of the believer's life, yet, as the Apostle says in Romans 8:3-4, "God... has condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
- Dig — The man did nothing violent. He dug, and then failed to cover. Responsibility starts with what he neglected, not with what he intended.
- Cover — Owning the land does not cancel your duty to use it well. An open pit on your own ground is still your pit.
- Pay — The loss is paid in money, and the dead animal goes to the one who paid for it. Nothing is left half-settled.
- Weigh — God weighs every claim with the same accuracy, rich and poor alike. No one can object to the verdict.
- Care — The God who rules the universe will judge a case about a dead ox. That is how closely He watches ordinary life. Our part is to keep the pits around us covered, for the sake of others.
-- And if one man's ox gore his neighbour's ox, and it die, then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money thereof, and divide the dead also.
Two neighbours, two oxen, and a death no one meant to cause — and God stops to give a ruling. The living animal and the dead one are both split between the owners. Commentators see in that even split a picture of how God governs the ordinary damage of daily life.
Here no one had been warned that the ox was dangerous. So the loss is halved instead of falling on one owner.
If one man's ox kills an ox belonging to someone else, half the value of the live ox belongs to each owner, and they divide the dead ox as well. But if an owner had been warned that his ox was dangerous and had not shut it in, he must hand his live ox to the other owner and take the dead one instead.
These rulings about animals all come back to one man: the owner.
The responsibility of the owner for the acts of his cattle is then laid down.
This ruling is part of a block that works out the commandments in real situations.
In Exodus 21 we get judgments that extend "You shall not murder." In Exodus 22 we find judgments that extend "You shall not steal"… The first demand is for restitution. If that is not possible, then damages must be paid. No fairer form of penalty than this can be thought up.
The split ox follows the measure used all through this section. What you lose, you recover. What you cause, you pay.
It is enough to point out again that the same principle of righteous equivalent applies here too… How vividly this brings home to us the truth our blessed Lord taught: even the hairs of our heads are all numbered. God has provided for everything. He has settled every relationship, and every way it can be broken, in keeping with the righteous government Israel was now placed under.
A rule that halves a loss only works if the judges cannot be bought. That was the character of the whole code.
God provided for everything. He upheld every interest and met every claim. There was no favouritism, and no difference between the rich and the poor. The scales that weighed each man's claim were set with divine accuracy, so no one could fairly complain about a decision. The clean robe of justice was not to be stained by bribery, corruption or favouritism… Justice struck only the guilty, while it guarded every obedient person in the full enjoyment of his rights and privileges.
Notice who is giving this ruling. The Maker of the universe settles a quarrel over cattle.
Here, too, we see how amazingly He stoops down. He is the great God of heaven and earth, yet He will still judge between one man and another over the death of an ox, the loan of a coat, or the loss of a servant's tooth… He governs the universe, and yet He can busy Himself with providing a covering for one of His creatures. He guides the angel's flight and notices a crawling worm.
A law like this also tells us something about the people it was written for.
The LORD had to make laws against certain crimes. That proves man is able to commit them. If the ability and the leaning towards them were not there, the laws would not be needed.
- Shared loss. If no one had been warned, the live ox is sold and the money split. The dead ox is split too. The damage falls on both alike.
- Shared responsibility. The owner answers for what his cattle do.
- Shared measure. One principle of righteous equivalent runs through the whole section. It settles every relationship and every breach of one.
- Shared protection. The code showed no favouritism between rich and poor, so no one could fairly complain about a decision.
- Shared witness. The law shows God stooping to judge the death of an ox. It also shows man, whose need of such laws proves he can commit the crimes they forbid.
Or if it be known that the ox have gored heretofore, and its owner have not kept him in, he shall in any case restore ox for ox; and the dead shall be his.
Two neighbours' oxen fight and one dies, and the verse before this splits the loss evenly. This verse shifts the whole loss onto one man, because the owner already knew his ox was dangerous and had not shut it in.
This verse ends a run of case laws about animals — what they do, and what is done to them. One writer sums up the whole section:
The rest of the chapter deals with judgments about the ownership of cattle, the violent acts these animals may do, and the violence they may suffer. All of it is to be settled on a strictly righteous basis.
Compare the two verses side by side and the difference in the settlement is plain:
If one man's ox kills an ox belonging to another, each owner should take half the value of the live ox. They should divide the dead ox as well. But if an owner had been warned that his ox was dangerous and had not kept it in, he should trade his live ox to the other owner for the dead ox.
The careless man ends up with the dead animal; his neighbour ends up with a living one. Owning the ox was not enough — he had to keep it shut in. The whole loss falls on the man who could have stopped it.
The same rule appears earlier in the chapter in its heaviest form, where an ox with a record kills a person. One commentator shows why the law deals so hard with the owner, and how far God's attention reaches:
The law commands the death of the owner, as well as the ox, if he had guilty knowledge that the animal was dangerous and he had made no provision to guard against it. How clearly this brings to mind the truth our blessed Lord taught: even the hairs of our heads are all numbered.
It was not the goring that made him guilty. It was knowing and doing nothing.
That God gives a law at all about one dead ox says something about Him:
Here, too, we see the amazing condescension of God. He is the great God of heaven and earth, yet He can still stoop to judge between one man and another about the death of an ox, the loan of a coat, or the loss of a servant's tooth… He governs the universe, and yet He can take time to provide a covering for one of His creatures. He guides the angel's flight and takes notice of a crawling worm.
"Ox for ox" is not a rough estimate. It is the whole method of this section of the law:
God provided for everything, upheld every interest, and met every claim. There was no favouritism — no difference made between the rich and the poor. Each man's claim was weighed in a balance adjusted with divine accuracy, so no one could rightly complain about a decision… The stroke of justice fell only on the guilty, while every obedient person kept the full enjoyment of his rights and privileges.
The precision that makes this law admirable is also its limit. One commentator names what law cannot do:
We find here the true character of law. Grace is absent… Law demands an exact equivalent — no more, and no less. But grace can cancel every claim. God has dealt with us in grace and cancelled our whole debt, so we must act on the same principle towards one another. Yet never forget this: the foundation of grace itself is laid deep in righteousness.
The case is ancient; the moral weight is not. One writer says this about the statutes in this chapter:
These statutes contain moral principles that do not change from one age to the next. The law is not the rule of the believer's life. Yet, as the Apostle says in Romans 8:3-4, "God … condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
- Known. One word decides the case: "known." The goring is the same in both verses. What the owner knew beforehand shifts the whole loss onto him.
- Kept in. Knowing is not enough. The owner is guilty because he "had made no provision to guard against it."
- Weighed. The settlement is exact, not rough. Each claim is weighed in a balance "adjusted with divine accuracy," so no one can complain.
- Noticed. The God who "governs the universe" still stoops to judge one dead animal between two neighbours.
- Beyond. Law demands "an exact equivalent — no more, and no less." Only grace can cancel a claim, and grace itself rests on a foundation "laid deep in righteousness."