Exodus 21:28

28 "If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned. The meat cannot be eaten but the owner of the ox is in the clear.

Exodus 21:28 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:28

If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die
That are Israelites, of whom only Aben Ezra interprets it; but though they may be principally designed, yet not solely; for no doubt if one of another nation was gored to death by the ox of an Israelite, the same penalty would be inflicted, as follows:

then the ox shall be surely stoned;
which is but an exemplification of the original law given to Noah and his sons, ( Genesis 9:5 ) : "at the hand of every beast will I require it"; i.e. the blood of the lives of men; which shows the care God takes of them, that even a beast must die that is the means of shedding man's blood:

and his flesh shall not be eaten;
it being as an impure beast according to this sentence, as Maimonides ^F12 observes; and even though it might have been killed in a regular manner before it was stoned, it was not to be eaten; no, not even by Heathens, nor by dogs might it be eaten, as a dead carcass might by a proselyte of the gate, or a stranger; this might not be given nor sold to him; for, as Aben Ezra observes, all profit of them is here forbidden:

but the owner of the ox [shall be] quit;
from punishment, as the last mentioned writer observes, from suffering death; he shall only suffer the loss of his ox: the Targum of Jonathan is,

``he shall be quit from the judgment of slaughter (or condemnation of murder), and also from the price of a servant or maid,''

which was thirty shekels, ( Exodus 21:32 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Hilchot Maacolot Asurot, c. 4. sect. 22.

Exodus 21:28 In-Context

26 "If a slave owner hits the eye of a slave or handmaid and ruins it, the owner must let the slave go free because of the eye.

27 If the owner knocks out the tooth of the male or female slave, the slave must be released and go free because of the tooth.

28 "If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned. The meat cannot be eaten but the owner of the ox is in the clear.

29 But if the ox has a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, then if the ox kills a man or a woman, the ox is to be stoned and the owner given the death penalty.

30 If a ransom is agreed upon instead of death, he must pay it in full as a redemption for his life.