Exodus 21:32

32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master ¹thirty shekels^[a] of silver, and ²the ox shall 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 If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him.

31 If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.

32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

33 “When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

Cross References

• 1. 21:32 [Zech. 11:12, 13; Matt. 26:15]
• 2. 21:32 [See ver. 28 above]

Footnotes

• [a] 21:32 A 'shekel' was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams