Exodus 21:32

32 But if the ox gores a slave, either male or female, the animal’s owner must pay the slave’s owner thirty silver coins, and the ox 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, the dead person’s relatives may accept payment to compensate for the loss of life. The owner of the ox may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.

31 “The same regulation applies if the ox gores a boy or a girl.

32 But if the ox gores a slave, either male or female, the animal’s owner must pay the slave’s owner thirty silver coins, and the ox must be stoned.

33 “Suppose someone digs or uncovers a pit and fails to cover it, and then an ox or a donkey falls into it.

34 The owner of the pit must pay full compensation to the owner of the animal, but then he gets to keep the dead animal.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew 30 shekels of silver, about 12 ounces or 342 grams in weight.