Leviticus 24:21

21 'Thus the one who kills an animal shall make it good, but 1the one who kills a man shall be put to death.

Leviticus 24:21 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 24:21

And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it
The same as in ( Leviticus 24:18 ) , which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and that it might be observed, though Jarchi takes it to be a different law; before, he says, it speaks of him that kills a beast, here of him that makes any wound or bruise in it, which he must make good; and it must be allowed that the manner of expression is different; there it is, he that smites the soul of a beast so that it dies, here only he that smites a beast, though it dies not, yet having some damage done it, satisfaction must be made:

and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death;
or he that smites a man, though he does not kill him, as Jarchi observes, only makes a wound or bruise in him, because it is not said, the soul of a man, as before; but such damages did not require death, but satisfaction in another way, as in ( Leviticus 24:19 ) .

Leviticus 24:21 In-Context

19 'If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him:
20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.
21 'Thus the one who kills an animal shall make it good, but the one who kills a man shall be put to death.
22 'There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.' "
23 Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Leviticus 24:17

Footnotes 2

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