Exodus 21:19

19 if he stands and walks about in the outside on his staff, the striker will be unpunished; he will only pay for his inactivity {toward his full recovery}."

Exodus 21:19 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:19

If he rise again
From his bed, or from his disease, as the last mentioned Targum, recovers again, at least so far as to be able to do what follows:

and walk abroad upon his staff;
if he is able to get out of his bed, and especially out of his house, and can be seen walking about in the street or in the field, though he is obliged to make use of a staff, and lean upon it, being yet weak and sickly;

then shall he that smote him be quit;
from the judgment of slaying, as the Targum, he shall not be charged with manslaughter, or be found guilty of a capital crime, but discharged from that:

only shall he pay for the loss of his time;
as much as he could have got in that time by his labour, from which he was obliged to cease: the Jewish writers add other things also he was to pay for, as the Targum of Jonathan, particularly; as for his pain, and for his loss of any member, and for his shame and disgrace, as well as the physician's fee, which is supposed to be included in the next clause:

and cause [him] to be thoroughly healed;
take care that he has a physician or surgeon, and that the proper medicines be applied, and those continued until he is quite well; all which must be at the expense of the smiter.

Exodus 21:19 In-Context

17 " 'And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death.
18 " 'And if men quarrel and a man strikes his neighbor with a stone or with a fist and he does not die, but {he is confined to bed},
19 if he stands and walks about in the outside on his staff, the striker will be unpunished; he will only pay for his inactivity {toward his full recovery}."
20 And if a man strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged.
21 Yet if he survives a day or two days, he will not be avenged, because he is his money.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally "his sitting"
  • [b]. Literally "and he indeed will recover"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.