Exodus 21:28

28 "If a man's bull kills a man or woman, you must kill that bull by throwing stones at it, and you should not eat the bull. But the owner of the bull is not guilty.

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 man hits his male or female slave in the eye, and the eye is blinded, the man is to free the slave to pay for the eye.

27 If a master knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, the man is to free the slave to pay for the tooth.

28 "If a man's bull kills a man or woman, you must kill that bull by throwing stones at it, and you should not eat the bull. But the owner of the bull is not guilty.

29 However, suppose the bull has hurt people in the past and the owner, though warned, did not keep it in a pen. Then if it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned to death, and the owner must also be put to death.

30 But if the family of the dead person accepts money, the one who owned the bull may buy back his life, but he must pay whatever is demanded.