Exodus 21:32

32 "Suppose the bull wounds a male or female slave. Then the owner must pay the slave's master 12 ounces of silver. You must kill the bull with stones.

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 "But suppose payment is required of him instead. Then he can save his life by paying what is required.

31 "The same law applies if the bull wounds a son or daughter with its horns.

32 "Suppose the bull wounds a male or female slave. Then the owner must pay the slave's master 12 ounces of silver. You must kill the bull with stones.

33 "Suppose a man uncovers a pit or digs one and does not cover it. And suppose an ox or donkey falls into it.

34 Then the owner of the pit must pay the animal's owner for the loss. The dead animal will belong to the owner of the pit.