Exodus 22:10

10 "Suppose a man asks his neighbor to keep his donkey, ox, sheep, or some other animal for him, and that animal dies, gets hurt, or is taken away, without anyone seeing what happened.

Exodus 22:10 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 22:10

If a man deliver to his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a
sheep, or any beast to keep
And he keeps it without a reward, as the Targum of Jonathan; but Jarchi and Aben Ezra more rightly interpret this of one that keeps for hire, as herdsmen, shepherds The Jews say F20 there are

``four sorts of keepers; he that keeps for nought (or freely), he that borrows, he that takes hire, and he that hires; he that keeps for nought swears in all cases (and is free), he that borrows pays for all (that is lost or stolen) he that takes hire, and he that hires, swear on account of that which is torn, or carried away, or dies, and they pay for that which is lost or stolen,''

which are the cases after supposed:

and it die;
either of the above, or any other under the care of another; that is, dies of itself, not being killed by any, and its death sudden, and not easily accounted for:

or be hurt;
receive any damage in any part, though it die not; or "be broken" F21; have any of its limbs or bones broken; or be torn by a wild beast, as the Targum of Jonathan adds:

or driven away;
from the flock or herd by thieves or robbers, or rather carried captive by an enemy in an hostile way, see ( Exodus 22:12 ) :

no man seeing it;
die, or be hurt, or carried off; and so, as the above Targum paraphrases it, there is no witness that sees and can bear witness, that is, to any of the said things which have happened to it.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 7. sect. 8.
F21 (rbvn) "confractum", Pagninus, Montanus; "fractum", Junius & Tremelius, Piscator, Drusius; so Ainsworth.

Exodus 22:10 In-Context

8 But if the thief is never found, the owner of the house must make a promise before God that he has not stolen his neighbor's things.
9 "Suppose two men disagree about who owns something -- whether ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or something else that is lost. If each says, 'This is mine,' each man must bring his case to God. God's judges will decide who is guilty, and that person must pay the other man twice as much as the object is worth.
10 "Suppose a man asks his neighbor to keep his donkey, ox, sheep, or some other animal for him, and that animal dies, gets hurt, or is taken away, without anyone seeing what happened.
11 That neighbor must promise before the Lord that he did not harm or kill the other man's animal, and the owner of the animal must accept his promise made before God. The neighbor does not have to pay the owner for the animal.
12 But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, he must pay the owner for it.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.