Exodus 21:32

32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, its owner must pay 12 ounces of silver to the slave's master, and the bull must be stoned.

Exodus 21:32 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:32

If the ox shall push a manservant, or a maidservant
Which the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi interpret of a Canaanitish servant, man or maid; but no doubt the same provision was made for an Hebrew servant, man or maid, as for a Gentile one:

he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver;
that is, the owner of the ox shall pay so much to the masters of the servants for the loss they have sustained by his ox goring them; and Maimonides ^F18 observes, that

``the ransom of servants, whether great or small, whether male or female, is fixed in the law, thirty shekels of good silver, whether the servant is worth a hundred pounds, or whether he is worth but a penny.''

This was the price our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was sold at, (See Gill on Matthew 26:15).

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Hilchot Niske Maimon, c. 11. sect. 1.

Exodus 21:32 In-Context

30 However, if only a cash settlement is demanded from the owner, the bull's owner may save his life by paying whatever price is demanded of him.

31 If the bull gores someone's son or daughter, this same ruling applies.

32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, its owner must pay 12 ounces of silver to the slave's master, and the bull must be stoned.

33 "Whenever someone opens up a cistern or digs a new one and doesn't cover it and a bull or a donkey falls into it,

34 the owner of the cistern must make up for the loss. He must pay money to the animal's owner, and then the dead animal will be his.