Exodus 21:36

36 Ist es aber bekannt gewesen, daß der Ochse vordem stößig war, und sein Besitzer hat ihn nicht verwahrt, so soll er gewißlich Ochsen für Ochsen erstatten, und der tote soll ihm gehören.

Exodus 21:36 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:36

Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past,
&c.] If it is a plain case, and a thing well known in the neighbourhood, and there are witnesses enough to testify it, that it has yesterday, and for two or three days running, pushed with his horns men and cattle, as they have come in his way, (See Gill on Exodus 21:29)

and his owner hath not kept him in;
took no care to prevent his doing mischief by putting him into a barn or out house, or into an enclosure, where he could do no damage to any:

he shall surely pay ox for ox;
that is, he shall give as good an ox to him, whose ox has been killed by his, as that was, or pay him the full worth and value of it: and the dead shall be his own; shall not be divided as in the preceding case, but shall be the proprietor's wholly, that is, the sufferer's; because the owner of the vicious ox took no care of him, though it was well known he was mischievous, for which negligence he was punished this way.

Exodus 21:36 In-Context

34 so soll es der Besitzer der Grube erstatten: Geld soll er dem Besitzer desselben zahlen, und das tote Tier soll ihm gehören.
35 Und wenn jemandes Ochse den Ochsen seines Nächsten stößt, daß er stirbt, so sollen sie den lebenden Ochsen verkaufen und den Erlös teilen, und auch den toten sollen sie teilen.
36 Ist es aber bekannt gewesen, daß der Ochse vordem stößig war, und sein Besitzer hat ihn nicht verwahrt, so soll er gewißlich Ochsen für Ochsen erstatten, und der tote soll ihm gehören.
The Elberfelder Bible is in the public domain.