Éxodo 21:28

28 »Si un toro cornea y mata a un hombre o a una mujer, se matará al toro a pedradas y no se comerá su carne. En tal caso, no se hará responsable al dueño del toro.

Éxodo 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.

Éxodo 21:28 In-Context

26 »Si alguien golpea en el ojo a su esclavo o a su esclava, y se lo saca, en compensación por el ojo los pondrá en libertad.

27 »Si alguien le rompe un diente a su esclavo o a su esclava, en compensación por el diente los pondrá en libertad.

28 »Si un toro cornea y mata a un hombre o a una mujer, se matará al toro a pedradas y no se comerá su carne. En tal caso, no se hará responsable al dueño del toro.

29 »Si el toro tiene la costumbre de cornear, se le matará a pedradas si llega a matar a un hombre o a una mujer. Si su dueño sabía de la costumbre del toro, pero no lo mantuvo sujeto, también será condenado a muerte.

30 »Si a cambio de su vida se le exige algún pago, deberá pagarlo.