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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Exodus 21 Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/exodus/211.htm" /><link href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cardo&subset=greek-ext' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/exodus/21.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/exodus/21-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Cambridge</a> > <a href="../exodus/">Exodus</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../exodus/20.htm" title="Exodus 20">◄</a> Exodus 21 <a href="../exodus/22.htm" title="Exodus 22">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-1.htm">Exodus 21:1</a></div><div class="verse">Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.</div>1. Now] And—introducing a new element in the collection, viz. the ‘judgements’ contained in <a href="/exodus/21-2.htm" title="If you buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.">Exodus 21:2</a> to <a href="/exodus/22-17.htm" title="If her father utterly refuse to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.">Exodus 22:17</a>. the judgements] i.e. legal precedents, intended to have the force of law. The Heb. mishpâṭ means a judicial decision, (1) given in an individual case, and then (2) established as a precedent for other similar cases1[184]. No doubt, the decisions which Moses gave, when he ‘sat to judge the people’ (<a href="/exodus/18-13.htm" title="And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening.">Exodus 18:13</a>; cf. on <a href="/context/exodus/18-15.htm" title="And Moses said to his father in law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God:...">Exodus 18:15-16</a>), became thus the foundation of Hebrew legislation (cf. p. 161)2[185]. [184] In its original sense, the word is a term belonging to civil and criminal law; but it is sometimes extended so as to include moral and religious injunctions (as <a href="/context/leviticus/18-4.htm" title="You shall do my judgments, and keep my ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God....">Leviticus 18:4-5</a>; <a href="/leviticus/19-15.htm" title="You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.">Leviticus 19:15</a>; <a href="/leviticus/19-35.htm" title="You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in length, in weight, or in measure.">Leviticus 19:35</a>); it is also sometimes in EVV. rendered more clearly by ‘ordinance’ (e.g. <a href="/exodus/15-25.htm" title="And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,">Exodus 15:25</a>, <a href="/joshua/24-25.htm" title="So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.">Joshua 24:25</a>, <a href="/isaiah/58-2.htm" title="Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.">Isaiah 58:2</a>, <a href="/jeremiah/8-7.htm" title="Yes, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.">Jeremiah 8:7</a> RV.). [185] ‘En-Mishpâṭ (<a href="/genesis/14-7.htm" title="And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelled in Hazezontamar.">Genesis 14:7</a>), the ‘Spring of judgement,’ as Ḳadesh (the ‘sacred’ place) was also called, was doubtless once a sacred spring, at which judicial decisions were obtained (cf. DB. iii. 67a, v. 616b). set before them] <a href="/exodus/19-7.htm" title="And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.">Exodus 19:7</a>, <a href="/deuteronomy/4-44.htm" title="And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:">Deuteronomy 4:44</a>. <A name="2"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-2.htm">Exodus 21:2</a></div><div class="verse">If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.</div>2. If thou buy] In the Heb. the primary cases (vv. 2, 7, 20, 22 &c.) are introduced by ki, ‘when,’ the subordinate ones (vv. 3a, 3b, 4, 5; 8, 9, 10, 11, &c.) by ’im, ‘if,’ or ’ô, ‘or if’; but the distinction is not preserved in EVV. an Hebrew servant] better, an Hebrew bondman (RVm.) or male slave, i.e. one of Hebrew birth, as opposed to foreigners, who did not enjoy the same privileges as Hebrew slaves, and might be slaves for life (<a href="/context/leviticus/25-44.htm" title="Both your slaves, and your bondmaids, which you shall have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall you buy slaves and bondmaids....">Leviticus 25:44-46</a>). The release in the seventh year, after six years of servitude, seems, like the Sabbatical Year (<a href="/exodus/23-10.htm" title="And six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in the fruits thereof:">Exodus 23:10</a> f.), to be suggested by the weekly sabbath closing the six days of toil. go out free] Cf. Ḥammurabi’s Code, § 117 (below, p. 421). The philanthropic legislator of Deuteronomy (<a href="/exodus/15-13.htm" title="You in your mercy have led forth the people which you have redeemed: you have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.">Exodus 15:13</a> f.) enjoins the master to bestow a handsome present upon his slave when he thus leaves him. 2–6. Hebrew male slaves. Their term of service is fixed for six years (v. 2). A slave is to leave his master’s service exactly as he entered it: if he entered it without a wife, he is to leave it without wife, even though he may have taken a wife in the meantime (vv. 3a, 4). If on the other hand he was married when his master bought him, his wife may accompany him when he receives his Freedom (v. 3b). Provision is further made for a voluntary life-service (v. 5 f.). 2–11. The law of slavery. Cf. <a href="/context/deuteronomy/15-12.htm" title="And if your brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold to you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you....">Deuteronomy 15:12-18</a>, <a href="/context/leviticus/25-39.htm" title="And if your brother that dwells by you be waxen poor, and be sold to you; you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant:...">Leviticus 25:39-55</a> (H and P), where there are other regulations on the same subject, in some respects differing remarkably from those of Ex., and springing evidently out of a different and more advanced stage of society. The present law deals only with Hebrew slaves: the case of foreign slaves is dealt with in <a href="/context/leviticus/25-44.htm" title="Both your slaves, and your bondmaids, which you shall have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall you buy slaves and bondmaids....">Leviticus 25:44-46</a>. The conditions of society in ancient Israel were such that slavery could not be abolished: but it was regulated, and restrictions were imposed on the power of a master over his slave (see also vv. 20 f., 26 f.). An Israelite might fall into slavery from different causes: (1) he might be sold by his parents, a case of particularly common occurrence with daughters; (2) he might be sold for theft (<a href="/exodus/22-3.htm" title="If the sun be risen on him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.">Exodus 22:3</a>) or insolvency (<a href="/2_kings/4-1.htm" title="Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take to him my two sons to be slaves.">2 Kings 4:1</a>, <a href="/amos/2-6.htm" title="Thus said the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;">Amos 2:6</a>); (3) he might be obliged by poverty to sell himself (<a href="/leviticus/25-39.htm" title="And if your brother that dwells by you be waxen poor, and be sold to you; you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant:">Leviticus 25:39</a>). Of course, also, he might be born a slave. The later legislation of <a href="/context/leviticus/25-39.htm" title="And if your brother that dwells by you be waxen poor, and be sold to you; you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant:...">Leviticus 25:39-46</a> sought to limit slavery to foreigners. <A name="3"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-3.htm">Exodus 21:3</a></div><div class="verse">If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.</div>3. First and second of the special cases, viz. the cases (1) of an unmarried slave, and (2) of one married before he became a slave. There is no counterpart to this and the following verse in Dt. by himself (twice)] lit. with his back or body, and with nothing else, i.e. alone, without wife or child. A peculiar expression, found only here and v. 4. married] Heb. the possessor of a woman (or wife); so v. 22; ba‘al, ‘possessor,’ also, in the sense of ‘husband,’ <a href="/genesis/20-3.htm" title="But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, you are but a dead man, for the woman which you have taken; for she is a man's wife.">Genesis 20:3</a>, <a href="/deuteronomy/24-4.htm" title="Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and you shall not cause the land to sin, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.">Deuteronomy 24:4</a> al. The woman, being the possession of her husband, naturally shared his fortunes, and both entered into servitude, and left it, with him. <A name="4"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-4.htm">Exodus 21:4</a></div><div class="verse">If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.</div>4. The third case. If the master marries a slave to one of his female slaves, the wife remains her master’s slave as she was before, and does not go free with her husband. If she has borne him children, the remain in servitude with their mother. At this early time, children’s relationship to their mother was held to be closer and more binding than that to their father. give him] for the slave would not have the right to choose a wife for himself. <A name="5"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-5.htm">Exodus 21:5</a></div><div class="verse">And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:</div>5. plainly say] ‘Plainly’ should be omitted. It is an attempt to represent in English the idiomatic use of the Hebrew inf. abs., which emphasizes the verb to which it is attached, and is often used in the expression of a condition (G.-K. § 113o). ‘Plainly,’ however, does not give the correct emphasis. I love my master] A slave was no doubt often well treated, and would then naturally ‘prefer slavery with comfort to freedom with destitution’ (EB. iv. 4656). my wife, and my children] The case is supposed to be the one provided for in v. 4, in which the slave’s wife and children would not accompany him into freedom. 5, 6. The fourth case. A slave, if he was happy with his master might, if he desired to do so, remain in his master’s service for life. <A name="6"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-6.htm">Exodus 21:6</a></div><div class="verse">Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.</div>6. unto God] i.e. (if the rend. be correct: see below) to the nearest sanctuary (for the expression, comp. especially <a href="/1_samuel/10-3.htm" title="Then shall you go on forward from there, and you shall come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet you three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:">1 Samuel 10:3</a>), in order that he might there affirm solemnly before God his intention to remain with his master. ‘God’ is resorted to here, not for a judicial decision (see on <a href="/context/exodus/18-15.htm" title="And Moses said to his father in law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God:...">Exodus 18:15-16</a>), but for the slave’s declaration to be solemnly ratified: still, as this would be done in the presence of God’s human representatives, the priests or judges, RVm. (= AV.), following Targ., Pesh., and Jewish interpreters (cf. LXX. τό κριτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ, ‘the tribunal of God’), renders the judges. This, however, is only a paraphrase; for though God, in cases such as the present, may be conceived as acting through a judge, as His representative or mouth-piece, that does not make ‘Elohim’ mean ‘judge,’ or ‘judges.’ ‘God’ is used in the same sense in <a href="/context/exodus/22-8.htm" title="If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges, to see whether he have put his hand to his neighbor's goods....">Exodus 22:8-9</a>, and <a href="/1_samuel/2-25.htm" title="If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding they listened not to the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.">1 Samuel 2:25</a>. and he shall bring him] i.e (Di.) the judge at the sanctuary: better, perhaps, one shall bring him = he shall be brought (G.-K. §144d). the door] not, as has been supposed, of the sanctuary, but, if the ceremony is to bear any relation to the thing which it is intended to signify, of his master’s house. The ear, as the organ of hearing, is naturally that of obedience as well; and its attachment (<a href="/deuteronomy/15-17.htm" title="Then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant for ever. And also to your maidservant you shall do likewise.">Deuteronomy 15:17</a>) to the door of the house would signify the perpetual attachment of the slave to that particular household. Probably it was the right ear which was pierced: for the preference shewn for this, comp. <a href="/leviticus/8-23.htm" title="And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.">Leviticus 8:23</a> f., <a href="/exodus/14-14.htm" title="The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.">Exodus 14:14</a>; <a href="/exodus/14-17.htm" title="And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honor on Pharaoh, and on all his host, on his chariots, and on his horsemen.">Exodus 14:17</a>. The connexion ‘bring him to God (or the gods),’ and ‘bring him to the door’ seems, however, to suggest that both were in the same place: hence, as the ‘door’ of the sanctuary seems out of the question, Bä. and others render hâ-’ĕlôhîm (as is perfectly possible: cf. <a href="/genesis/3-5.htm" title="For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.">Genesis 3:5</a> RVm.) by the gods, supposing the reference to be to the household gods, or Penates, of the master’s house, kept and worshipped near the door: the ceremony would then have the effect of bringing the give into a relation of dependence on the gods of his master’s family, and of admitting him to the full religious privileges of the family (cf. Eerdmans Expositor, Aug. 1909, p. 163 f.). Kautzsch, on the other hand, supposes an image of Jehovah to be referred to (DB. v. 642b). bore his ear] Whether a hole in the ear was really among other nations a mark of slavery, or even of dependence, is very doubtful: the passages cited by Di. from Kn. (cf. Now. Arch. i. 177) do not seem to shew more than that it was a mark of nationality: the ear was often bored (for ear-rings) among Africans and Orientals in general, but not specifically by slaves. See esp. Mayor’s note on Juv. i. 104 (‘Natus ad Euphraten, molles quod in aure fenestrae Arguerint’), Macrob. Saturn, vii. 3, Plin. H.N. xi. § 136: on Plaut. Poen. v. 2. 21 (‘aures anulatae’), see Ussing’s note. for ever] i.e. till his life’s end: cf. ‘for ever’ in <a href="/1_samuel/1-22.htm" title="But Hannah went not up; for she said to her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.">1 Samuel 1:22</a>, and esp. in the expression, ‘servant for ever,’ <a href="/exodus/27-12.htm" title="And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.">Exodus 27:12</a>, <a href="/job/41-4.htm" title="Will he make a covenant with you? will you take him for a servant for ever?">Job 41:4</a> [<a href="/exodus/40-28.htm" title="And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.">Exodus 40:28</a> Heb.]. The explanation ‘till the next jubilee’ (Jos. Ant. iv. 8. 28, and others), which has been adopted for harmonistic reasons (see <a href="/context/leviticus/25-39.htm" title="And if your brother that dwells by you be waxen poor, and be sold to you; you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant:...">Leviticus 25:39-41</a>), is exegetically impossible: as Di. says, the difference between the two laws must be frankly recognized; they spring, it is evident, out of different periods of the history. <A name="7"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-7.htm">Exodus 21:7</a></div><div class="verse">And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.</div>7. if a man sell his daughter] as he easily might do, either from actual poverty, or because he was in such circumstances that it would be more advantageous for his daughter to be the concubine of a well-to-do neighbour than to marry a man in her own social position. maidservant] better, bondwoman (RVm.), or female slave: ‘maid-servant’ has associations which are not at all those of ancient Hebrew society. Here the word (’âmâh) denotes in particular a female slave bought not only to do household work, but also to be her master’s concubine. Cf. the same word in <a href="/genesis/21-10.htm" title="Why she said to Abraham, Cast out this female slave and her son: for the son of this female slave shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.">Genesis 21:10</a> ff. (of Hagar), <a href="/judges/9-18.htm" title="And you are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, three score and ten persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;)">Jdg 9:18</a> (of Gideon’s concubine; see <a href="/exodus/8-31.htm" title="And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.">Exodus 8:31</a>), <a href="/exodus/19-19.htm" title="And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.">Exodus 19:19</a>. as the male slaves do] v. 2. 7–11. Hebrew female slaves. The law for female slaves is different. A female slave does not receive her freedom at the end of six years (v. 7); still, she cannot be sold to a non-Israelite; and if her master, before actually taking her as his concubine, finds he does not like her she must be redeemed (v. 8). If her master has bought her for his son she must have the usual rights of a daughter (v. 9). If her master take another concubine, she is in no respect to be defrauded of her food, dress, and conjugal rights (v. 10): if these be withheld, her freedom must be given her unconditionally (v. 11). The reason for the different treatment of female slaves is to be found in the fact that a female slave was as a rule (v. 8) her master’s concubine; she stood consequently to her master in a relation which could not suitably be terminated at the end of six years. Concubinage was common among the ancient Hebrews (among the patriarchs, <a href="/genesis/16-3.htm" title="And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelled ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.">Genesis 16:3</a>; <a href="/genesis/22-24.htm" title="And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bore also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.">Genesis 22:24</a>; <a href="/genesis/30-3.htm" title="And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in to her; and she shall bear on my knees, that I may also have children by her.">Genesis 30:3</a>; <a href="/genesis/30-9.htm" title="When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.">Genesis 30:9</a>; <a href="/genesis/36-12.htm" title="And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau's wife.">Genesis 36:12</a>; in the time of the Judges, <a href="/judges/8-31.htm" title="And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.">Jdg 8:31</a>; <a href="/judges/9-18.htm" title="And you are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, three score and ten persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;)">Jdg 9:18</a>; <a href="/judges/19-1.htm" title="And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.">Jdg 19:1</a> ff.; and among the early kings, <a href="/2_samuel/3-7.htm" title="And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?">2 Samuel 3:7</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/5-13.htm" title="And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.">2 Samuel 5:13</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/15-16.htm" title="And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.">2 Samuel 15:16</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/21-11.htm" title="And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.">2 Samuel 21:11</a>; <a href="/1_kings/11-3.htm" title="And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.">1 Kings 11:3</a>), as it was also among the Babylonians in the age of Ḥammurabi (Code, §§ 144–71[186]), and as it is still in Mohammedan countries (see e.g. Lane, Modern Egyptians, i. 122, 227, 232 f.). [186] Cf. the interesting case attested by two contemporary contract-tablets (Pinches, OT. in the Light of Ass. and Bab. records and legends, p. 174 f.; Cook, Moses and Ḥamm. p. 113 f.): a man marries his wife’s sister, to become her waiting-maid. <A name="8"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-8.htm">Exodus 21:8</a></div><div class="verse">If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.</div>8. First special case under the general law of v. 7: if a woman, bought with the intention of being made her master’s concubine, does not please her master, he must let her be redeemed, and he has no power to sell her into foreign slavery. who hath designated (<a href="/2_samuel/20-5.htm" title="So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.">2 Samuel 20:5</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/47-7.htm" title="How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD has given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there has he appointed it.">Jeremiah 47:7</a>) her for himself] viz. at the time when he bought her: ‘for himself’ is shewn by its position in the Heb. to be emphatic; it is opposed to ‘for his son’ in v. 9, The marg. (לא for לו) may be disregarded, if only because yâ‘ad does not mean to ‘espouse’: to ‘designate’ a woman for any one may indeed be equivalent to ‘to espouse,’ but that does not justify ‘designate,’ used absolutely, being rendered ‘espouse.’ let her be redeemed] by her father, or other relative, if able to do so: she had been bought to become a concubine, and had consequently certain rights. If however the woman’s relatives did not redeem her, her master was apparently at liberty to sell her to another Israelite; for the following clause only forbids him to sell her into foreign servitude. Of course, the woman is not to be supposed to have actually become her master’s concubine: in this case, if he found he did not like her, he would have to give her her freedom unconditionally (cf. v. 11). strange] foreign, the now obsolete sense of ‘strange’ noticed on <a href="/exodus/2-22.htm" title="And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.">Exodus 2:22</a>. deceitfully] or untruly, viz. in not making her his concubine, as it was understood, when he bought her, that he would do. <A name="9"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-9.htm">Exodus 21:9</a></div><div class="verse">And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.</div>9. Second special case: if at the time of purchasing the woman, her master intends her for his son. If he designate her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the rights of daughters] i.e. treat her as a daughter of his own household, give her the maintenance, clothing, &c. which a daughter would naturally have. for his son] ‘as in Persia (Chardin, Voyage, ii. 259), Arabia, Niebuhr, Arabia, p. 74, Snouck-Hurgronje, Mekka, p. 157’ (Dillm.-Ryss.). <A name="10"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-10.htm">Exodus 21:10</a></div><div class="verse">If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.</div>10. her flesh] The case contemplated is that of a well-to-do Israelite, who could have several concubines, and enjoy animal food every day: Israelites of the poorer class ate animal food seldom or never. ‘Flesh’ (<a href="/psalms/78-20.htm" title="Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?">Psalm 78:20</a>; <a href="/psalms/78-27.htm" title="He rained flesh also on them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:">Psalm 78:27</a>) should not be weakened to ‘food’: a diminution of ordinary food, such as bread and vegetables, is not contemplated. her rights of marriage] i.e. her conjugal rights. The Heb. word occurs only here; and its etymological meaning is uncertain. 10, 11. Third special case: if after having taken the woman as a concubine he takes another concubine as well: in that case, he must still allow his first concubine her full rights; if he does not do this, he must give her her freedom. <A name="11"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-11.htm">Exodus 21:11</a></div><div class="verse">And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.</div>11. these three] The three rights mentioned in v. 10. The view expressed above is the one ordinarily taken of vv. 7–11, vv. 8–10 stating three special cases, falling under the general case of v. 7, If a man sell his daughter, &c. Budde, however (ZATW. 1891, p. 102 f.), argues forcibly, and Bä. agrees, that the three special cases fall, not under the general case of v. 7, but under the general case of v. 8a, If she please not her master,—the first two, as upon the ordinary view, relating to the time before the woman is taken actually as a concubine: the three cases being (1) he may let her be redeemed, v. 8b; (2) how he is to deal with her, if he passes her on to his son, v. 9; (3) how he is to deal with her, if, after having made her his concubine, he takes another concubine as well. If the girl bought in this way was as a matter of course bought to be her master’s concubine, the words in v. 8, ‘who hath designated her for himself,’ are otiose; on the other hand, the condition that the two alternatives mentioned in vv. 8, 9 are to be adopted only if she is still a virgin, ought, Budde thinks, to be clearly expressed: accordingly, taking ‘not’ from the margin, and transposing two letters in the following word, he reads for the words quoted, who (or in case he) hath not known her (<a href="/genesis/4-1.htm" title="And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.">Genesis 4:1</a>): he further argues that this view does better justice to the wording of v. 8 (which is not, as it should be on the ordinary view, If he hath designated her for himself, and she please him not), and to the tense of ‘designate’ in v. 9 (which is the impf., as in vv. 10, 11, not the perf., as in v. 8a), and also that it explains better v. 9b (why, if he originally intended her as a concubine for his son, should he treat her as a daughter, and so place her in a better position than if he intended he for himself? On the other hand, this is intelligible, if he did not fulfil his original engagement to her, and passed her on to his son). For another solution of the difficulties of the passage, resting upon a further emendation, see W. R. Smith, ZATW. 1892, p. 162 f., or Ryssel in Di.2 p. 253. <A name="12"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-12.htm">Exodus 21:12</a></div><div class="verse">He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.</div>12. Murder. The same general principle is laid down in P, <a href="/genesis/9-6.htm" title="Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.">Genesis 9:6</a>, <a href="/numbers/35-30.htm" title="Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.">Numbers 35:30</a> f., and in H, <a href="/leviticus/24-17.htm" title="And he that kills any man shall surely be put to death.">Leviticus 24:17</a>. shall be put to death] The execution of this penalty was the duty not, as in communities in which a more advanced stage of civilization has been reached, of the State, but of the ‘Avenger of blood,’ i.e. of the nearest kinsman of the murdered man, upon whom, according to primitive ideas, the duty of vindicating his rights devolved, <a href="/2_samuel/14-11.htm" title="Then said she, I pray you, let the king remember the LORD your God, that you would not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.">2 Samuel 14:11</a>, <a href="/deuteronomy/19-6.htm" title="Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.">Deuteronomy 19:6</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/19-12.htm" title="Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.">Deuteronomy 19:12</a>, <a href="/numbers/35-19.htm" title="The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meets him, he shall slay him.">Numbers 35:19</a>; <a href="/numbers/35-21.htm" title="Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meets him.">Numbers 35:21</a>; <a href="/numbers/35-27.htm" title="And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:">Numbers 35:27</a> (P). See Goel in DB. or EB. 12–17. Capital offences. In v. 12 is laid down the general principle that death is the punishment for killing a man. If the act is unpre-meditated (manslaughter), the penalty is modified (v. 13), but retained in full in the case of the act being evidently intentional (v. 14). Kidnapping a fellow Israelite, and smiting or cursing a parent (vv. 15–17), are also treated as capital offences. <A name="13"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-13.htm">Exodus 21:13</a></div><div class="verse">And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.</div>13. Manslaughter, and the right of asylum. The distinction, not found in Homer, but thus early drawn among the Hebrews, between intentional and unintentional homicide is noteworthy: it is insisted on in all the codes (<a href="/context/deuteronomy/19-1.htm" title="When the LORD your God has cut off the nations, whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you succeed them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses;...">Deuteronomy 19:1-13</a>; <a href="/context/numbers/35-9.htm" title="And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,...">Numbers 35:9-34</a> P). lie … in wait] <a href="/1_samuel/24-11.htm" title="Moreover, my father, see, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and killed you not, know you and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you; yet you hunt my soul to take it.">1 Samuel 24:11</a> (RVm.)†: cf. the derivative, ‘with lying in wait’ (i.e. with malicious intent), in P’s law of homicide, <a href="/numbers/35-20.htm" title="But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die;">Numbers 35:20</a>; <a href="/numbers/35-22.htm" title="But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast on him any thing without laying of wait,">Numbers 35:22</a> (‘without’)†. In Dt. and D2[187] the idea of ‘unintentional’ is expressed by unawares (lit. without knowledge), <a href="/deuteronomy/4-42.htm" title="That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:">Deuteronomy 4:42</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/19-4.htm" title="And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;">Deuteronomy 19:4</a>, <a href="/joshua/20-3.htm" title="That the slayer that kills any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.">Joshua 20:3</a>; <a href="/joshua/20-5.htm" title="And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbor unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime.">Joshua 20:5</a>; P says unwittingly (lit. in error), <a href="/numbers/35-11.htm" title="Then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which kills any person at unawares.">Numbers 35:11</a>; <a href="/numbers/35-15.htm" title="These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that kills any person unawares may flee thither.">Numbers 35:15</a>, <a href="/joshua/20-3.htm" title="That the slayer that kills any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.">Joshua 20:3</a>; <a href="/joshua/20-9.htm" title="These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojournes among them, that whoever kills any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.">Joshua 20:9</a>. [187] Deuteronomic passages in Josh., Jud., Kings. deliver] in the Heb. a rare word, meaning properly, as Arabic shews, bring opportunely (cf. the derivative opportunity, <a href="/judges/14-4.htm" title="But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.">Jdg 14:4</a>). The meaning of the clause is (as we should express it), if he kills him accidentally. Cf. Ḥamm. § 249 ‘if God have struck it (a hired ox), and it die,’ 266 ‘a stroke of God’ (killing a sheep), below, p. 423. a place whither he shall flee] i.e. an asylum where he may be safe from the avenger of blood. V. 14, which speaks of the fugitive as having taken refuge at an altar, shews that the place meant can only be the sacred place at which the altar stood. In the later legislation of Dt. (<a href="/context/deuteronomy/19-1.htm" title="When the LORD your God has cut off the nations, whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you succeed them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses;...">Deuteronomy 19:1-13</a>) fixed cities are appointed for the purpose and regulations for their use are laid down. The technical term, ‘cities of refuge,’ first occurs in P (<a href="/numbers/35-6.htm" title="And among the cities which you shall give to the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which you shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them you shall add forty and two cities.">Numbers 35:6</a>; <a href="/numbers/35-11.htm" title="Then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which kills any person at unawares.">Numbers 35:11</a> ff.). In ancient times ‘the right of asylum was possessed by different sanctuaries in various degrees, depending on prescription, the holiness of the place, and other circumstances; it sometimes extended to an entire city, or even to a mark beyond its walls.… In the Greek period, and later (under Roman rule), many Hellenistic cities in Syria enjoyed the privileges of asylums, the title ἄσυλος appearing on their coins’ (Moore, in EB. Asylum). Cf. Rel. Sem. 148. Moslems, adhering to the tradition of heathen times, treat tombs, esp. those of ancestors, notabilities, and saints, as asylums. <A name="14"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-14.htm">Exodus 21:14</a></div><div class="verse">But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.</div>14. But the protection of the altar is not to be extended to the wilful murderer. Cf. <a href="/context/deuteronomy/19-11.htm" title="But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and flees into one of these cities:...">Deuteronomy 19:11-13</a>; also the more detailed treatment of the case of wilful murder in the law of P (<a href="/context/numbers/35-16.htm" title="And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death....">Numbers 35:16-21</a>). from mine altar] See <a href="/1_kings/1-50.htm" title="And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.">1 Kings 1:50</a>; <a href="/1_kings/2-28.htm" title="Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.">1 Kings 2:28</a>, which shew that the fugitive would seize hold of the ‘horns’ (see on ch. <a href="/exodus/27-2.htm" title="And you shall make the horns of it on the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and you shall overlay it with brass.">Exodus 27:2</a>) of the altar, in order to avail himself of its protection. The altar served as an asylum also among the Greeks (Thuc. iv. 98). <A name="15"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-15.htm">Exodus 21:15</a></div><div class="verse">And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.</div>15. Striking a parent. Notice that the mother is placed on an equality with the father. smiteth] simply, without killing: the murder of a parent would fall under the general rule of v. 12. The severity of the penalty was in accordance with the high respect paid to both parents in ancient Israel: see <a href="/exodus/20-12.htm" title="Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long on the land which the LORD your God gives you.">Exodus 20:12</a>, and cf. <a href="/context/deuteronomy/21-18.htm" title="If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not listen to them:...">Deuteronomy 21:18-21</a>. Hạmmurabi (§ 195) ordained that if a son struck his father—no mention is made of his mother—his hands should be cut off. The older Sumerian laws said1[188]: ‘If a son has said to his father, Thou art not my father [i.e. repudiated him], he may brand him, lay fetters upon him, and sell him. If a son has said to his mother, Thou art not my mother, one shall brand his forehead, drive him round the city, and expel him from the house.’ At Athens γονέων κάκωσις (‘maltreatment of parents’) was actionable, and might be punished with ἀτιμία, or loss of civil rights (Andoc. de Myst. § 74, cf. Demosth. adv. Timocr. §§ 103, 105, p. 732 f.); and Plato (Legg. ix. 881 b–d), if any one struck a parent, would have any one who witnessed the act, and failed to interfere, severely punished, and the offender himself condemned to perpetual exile, or death if he ever returned home. Solon (Cic. Rosc. 25) is said to have made no mention of such a crime, on the ground that he considered its occurrence impossible (Kn.). [188] Winckler, Gesetze Hamm. (1904), p. 85; Pinches, op cit. [p. 212 n.], p. 190 f. <A name="16"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-16.htm">Exodus 21:16</a></div><div class="verse">And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.</div>16. Man-stealing. Cf. <a href="/deuteronomy/24-7.htm" title="If a man be found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and makes merchandise of him, or sells him; then that thief shall die; and you shall put evil away from among you.">Deuteronomy 24:7</a>, where the present law is merely expanded, and recast in Deuteronomic phraseology. a man] in <a href="/deuteronomy/24-7.htm" title="If a man be found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and makes merchandise of him, or sells him; then that thief shall die; and you shall put evil away from among you.">Deuteronomy 24:7</a>, expressly limited to an Israelite: so LXX Targ. add here, ‘of the children of Israel.’ No doubt this interprets correctly the intention of the law. and selleth him] into a foreign country is probably what is thought (cf. v. 8). This would not only sever the victim cruelly from his own people, and his own religion (<a href="/1_samuel/26-19.htm" title="Now therefore, I pray you, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.">1 Samuel 26:19</a>), but also expose him to many risks of death. The Phoenicians (<a href="/amos/1-9.htm" title="Thus said the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:">Amos 1:9</a>, and, at a later time, <a href="/context/joel/3-4.htm" title="Yes, and what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will you render me a recompense? and if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense on your own head;...">Joel 3:4-6</a>), to say nothing of other nations (<a href="/genesis/37-36.htm" title="And the Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.">Genesis 37:36</a>), would be ready purchasers of slaves. or if he be found in his hand] i.e. if he has not yet actually sold him. shall be put to death] The same punishment in Ḥamm. § 14. At Athens, the ἀνδραποδιστής, who enslaved a free man, or enticed away another person’s slave, was punished with death (Hermann, Griech. Antiq. iii. §§ xii. 12; lxii. 12: cf. Demosth. Phil. i. p. 53 end, § 47; Xen. Memor. i. 2. 62): among the Romans both the seller and the buyer of a free-born citizen were punished with death (Kn.). <A name="17"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-17.htm">Exodus 21:17</a></div><div class="verse">And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.</div>17. Cursing a parent. Comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/27-16.htm" title="Cursed be he that sets light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.">Deuteronomy 27:16</a>, <a href="/leviticus/20-9.htm" title="For every one that curses his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be on him.">Leviticus 20:9</a> (H): also <a href="/proverbs/20-20.htm" title="Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.">Proverbs 20:20</a>; <a href="/proverbs/30-17.htm" title="The eye that mocks at his father, and despises to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.">Proverbs 30:17</a>. In the LXX. this verse stands more suitably immediately after v. 15. It is cited in <a href="/matthew/15-4.htm" title="For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and mother: and, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death.">Matthew 15:4</a> = <a href="/mark/7-10.htm" title="For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever curses father or mother, let him die the death:">Mark 7:10</a>. curseth] a stronger word than the maketh light of, or dishonoureth, of <a href="/deuteronomy/27-16.htm" title="Cursed be he that sets light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.">Deuteronomy 27:16</a>. <A name="18"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-18.htm">Exodus 21:18</a></div><div class="verse">And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:</div>18. contend] or dispute, wrangle in words: rendered strive, <a href="/context/genesis/26-20.htm" title="And the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him....">Genesis 26:20-21</a>, contend, as here, <a href="/nehemiah/13-11.htm" title="Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.">Nehemiah 13:11</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/13-17.htm" title="Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the sabbath day?">Nehemiah 13:17</a>. fist] <a href="/isaiah/58-4.htm" title="Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.">Isaiah 58:4</a> †. So LXX. Vulg. Di.: the Heb. ’egrôph has also this sense in the Talm. The meaning spade or hoe, which Ryssel in Di.2 argues for, would be possible etymologically (for the root signifies to scoop or sweep away, <a href="/judges/5-21.htm" title="The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, you have trodden down strength.">Jdg 5:21</a>): but it does not suit <a href="/isaiah/58-4.htm" title="Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.">Isaiah 58:4</a>. The rend. of the Targums, club or cudgel, would suit both passages, but lacks philological justification. and he die not] for, if he did, the case would be regulated presumably by the mishpâṭ of v. 12. 18, 19. Bodily injury inflicted in a quarrel. 18–27. Bodily injuries caused by human beings. Four cases are taken, two arising out of a quarrel, and two out of rough treatment of a slave (vv. 22–25 would more naturally follow vv. 18, 19). In fixing the penalties, consideration is taken of the status and sex of the persons involved, as also of the character of the injury, and the consequences following from it. 18–36. Bodily injuries, caused (a) by human beings, vv. 18–27; (b) by animals, or through the neglect of reasonable precautions, vv. 28–36. <A name="19"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-19.htm">Exodus 21:19</a></div><div class="verse">If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.</div>19. walk abroad upon his staff] a proof of convalescence. The ‘staff’ (lit. something to lean upon) was used for help in walking (<a href="/2_kings/4-29.htm" title="Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go your way: if you meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute you, answer him not again: and lay my staff on the face of the child.">2 Kings 4:29</a>,—by Elisha): in <a href="/zechariah/8-4.htm" title="Thus said the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.">Zechariah 8:4</a> a characteristic of old age. be quit (lit. innocent)] If he died in his bed, the person who injured him might reasonably be held responsible for his death: if he died after the had taken his first walk, he might himself have met with some farther accident, or imprudently ventured out too soon. only, &c.] Though he is no longer in danger of suffering the capital penalty, he must still compensate his victim for his loss of time, and pay his doctor’s bill. Cf. Ḥamm. 206; and Manu, viii. 287 (Cook, p. 254). the loss of his time] a necessary paraphrase of the Heb. shibtô, which may be derived from either yâshab, to ‘sit down,’ or shâbath, to ‘desist,’ ‘cease’ (viz. from toil): hence the two margins. <A name="20"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-20.htm">Exodus 21:20</a></div><div class="verse">And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.</div>20. his servant, or his maid] i.e. (cf. marg.) his male or female slave. a rod] The usual implement of punishment (<a href="/proverbs/10-13.htm" title="In the lips of him that has understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.">Proverbs 10:13</a>; <a href="/proverbs/13-24.htm" title="He that spares his rod hates his son: but he that loves him chastens him betimes.">Proverbs 13:24</a>). punished] lit. avenged; so v. 21. In what the punishment consisted, is not stated. The Jews (Mechilta, Ps.-Jon., &c.) understood death (viz. by the sword) to be intended: but in that case ‘he shall surely be put to death’ would certainly have been said, as in other cases (vv. 12, 15, 16, & c.); besides, vv. 21 (cf. 19 f.), 26 f. (cf. 23 ff.), 32 (cf. 28 ff.) shew that a marked difference was made between a slave and a free man. No doubt the determination of the penalty was left to the discretion of the judge (Di.), or it was a fine payable to the sanctuary (Bä.), the amount of which varied with the means of the slave’s master. 20, 21. Beating a slave so that he dies. Vv. 26 f., 32, also deal with injuries to slaves. The penalties prescribed shew that less was thought of the life of a slave than of that of a free man,—in v. 21 he is called simply his master’s ‘money’; at the same time he has rights, and cannot be treated with entire impunity. The position of slaves in Israel must thus have been considerably better than that of slaves in Rome, at least in the time of the Republic, when their masters could kill them with impunity (Dion. Halic. vii. 68, Plutarch, Cato 21,—cited by Kn.). <A name="21"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-21.htm">Exodus 21:21</a></div><div class="verse">Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.</div>21. If the slave survives a day or two, his master escapes even the comparatively light penalty of v. 20; for then it is clear that he did not intend to kill him, but only to correct him. he is his money] i.e. his master’s property, purchased by his master’s money. His master is considered to have sufficiently punished himself by the loss of his property. <A name="22"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-22.htm">Exodus 21:22</a></div><div class="verse">If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.</div>22. Injury arising to a pregnant woman out of an affray. And if men strive together] i.e. quarrel and fight, ch. <a href="/exodus/2-13.htm" title="And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Why smite you your fellow?">Exodus 2:13</a>, <a href="/2_samuel/14-6.htm" title="And your handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.">2 Samuel 14:6</a>, Psalms 60 title. The same words in <a href="/deuteronomy/25-2.htm" title="And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.">Deuteronomy 25:2</a>. Not the verb used in v. 18 (which means only to dispute in words). hurt] properly, smite or strike (ch. <a href="/exodus/8-2.htm" title="And if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your borders with frogs:">Exodus 8:2</a>; <a href="/isaiah/19-22.htm" title="And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them.">Isaiah 19:22</a>): so v. 35. Probably the woman is to be thought of (as in <a href="/deuteronomy/25-11.htm" title="When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draws near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smites him, and puts forth her hand, and takes him by the secrets:">Deuteronomy 25:11</a>) as intervening to separate the combatants. her fruit depart] Heb. her children (a generic plural) come forth (<a href="/genesis/25-25.htm" title="And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.">Genesis 25:25</a>; <a href="/genesis/38-28.htm" title="And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.">Genesis 38:28</a>). but no (other) mischief happen] i.e. no permanent injury from the miscarriage. ‘Mischief’ (’âsôn, v. 23, <a href="/genesis/42-4.htm" title="But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brothers; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.">Genesis 42:4</a>; <a href="/genesis/42-38.htm" title="And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which you go, then shall you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.">Genesis 42:38</a>; <a href="/genesis/44-29.htm" title="And if you take this also from me, and mischief befall him, you shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.">Genesis 44:29</a> †) means some serious, or even (cf. v. 23) fatal, bodily injury. fined] viz. for the loss of the child, which would have been the parents’ property. Holzinger cites for parallels, among the Arabs, W.R. Smith, ZATW. 1892, p. 163, and among the Kirghissians, in Turkestan, Radloff, Aus Sibirien (1884), p. 524; here, if a pregnant woman is injured so that her child is born dead, the penalty is a horse or a camel according to its age (the penalty for killing a free man being a fine of 100 horses, and for killing a woman or slave, 50 horses). he shall pay (lit. give) with (the approval of) arbitrators] If the text is correct, the meaning apparently is that the amount of the fine, fixed in the first instance by the woman’s husband, had, before payment, to be submitted to arbitrators, and approved by them. But the word for arbitrators is rare and poetical (<a href="/deuteronomy/32-31.htm" title="For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.">Deuteronomy 32:31</a>, <a href="/job/31-11.htm" title="For this is an heinous crime; yes, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.">Job 31:11</a> †), the use of the prep. ב is strange, the mention of arbitration is unexpected after the unconditional discretion just given to the husband, nor are any arbitrators mentioned in the similar enactment of v. 30. Under these circumstances the clever suggestion of Budde, בנפלים for בפלילים deserves consideration, he shall pay it for the untimely birth (<a href="/job/3-16.htm" title="Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.">Job 3:16</a>, <a href="/psalms/58-9.htm" title="Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.">Psalm 58:9</a>),—the plural being required on account of the plural ‘children,’ just before (concealed in EVV. by the rend. fruit: the ב pretii, as <a href="/deuteronomy/19-21.htm" title="And your eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.">Deuteronomy 19:21</a>). Cf. Ḥamm. §§ 209–214; Cook, p. 253 f. <A name="23"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-23.htm">Exodus 21:23</a></div><div class="verse">And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,</div>23–25. The Lex Talionis. But if any mischief happen, then compensation is to be made on the principle of the lex talionis. Vv. 23–25 are, however, worded quite generally, and mention many injuries not at all likely to happen to the woman in the special case contemplated in v. 22, or even to the combatants themselves (injuries to whom Di. thinks might be included in the ‘mischief’ meant): hence, probably, either (Budde, Bä.) vv. 23–25 are misplaced, and should be transposed to follow vv. 18, 19 (where the quarrel is of a more general kind, and serious consequences are contemplated as happening to one other of the combatants), or (McNeile) ‘mischief’ in v. 22 means definitely the woman’s death, and v. 23 assigns the penalty for it, and vv. 24, 25 are ‘an abridged summary of the laws of retaliation, which has been added here though it is not relevant to the case in point—the death of the woman.’ Similar specifications of the application of the lex talionis are given in <a href="/deuteronomy/19-21.htm" title="And your eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.">Deuteronomy 19:21</a> (in the special case of the punishment to be awarded to a malicious witness: cf. Ḥamm. §§ 3, 4, for cases of false witness), and <a href="/leviticus/24-18.htm" title="And he that kills a beast shall make it good; beast for beast.">Leviticus 24:18</a>; <a href="/leviticus/24-20.htm" title="Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he has caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.">Leviticus 24:20</a> (H), in the case of any injury (‘blemish’) done to a neighbour. Comp. <a href="/matthew/5-38.htm" title="You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:">Matthew 5:38</a>. <A name="24"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-24.htm">Exodus 21:24</a></div><div class="verse">Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,</div><A name="25"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-25.htm">Exodus 21:25</a></div><div class="verse">Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.</div>25. wound] <a href="/genesis/4-23.htm" title="And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.">Genesis 4:23</a> c (lit. for my wound). <a href="/isaiah/1-6.htm" title="From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.">Isaiah 1:6</a>. stripe] <a href="/genesis/4-23.htm" title="And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.">Genesis 4:23</a> d (lit. for my stripe), <a href="/isaiah/1-6.htm" title="From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.">Isaiah 1:6</a> [EVV. bruises], <a href="/isaiah/53-5.htm" title="But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was on him; and with his stripes we are healed.">Isaiah 53:5</a>. The talio is a principle of punishment which was anciently, and still is, current widely in the world: Kn. quotes examples from the Thurians and Locrians (an eye for an eye), the Indians (Strabo, p. 710) the XII. Tables (‘si membrum rupit, ni cum eo pacit, talio esto’): Rhadamanthys was said to have declared that it was a just punishment when a man suffered what he had done (Arist. Eth. N. v. 8. 3); and there are several cases in the code of Hạmmurabi, §§ 116, 196, 197, 200, 210, 219, 229, 235, 263, &c.: see Cook, p. 249). For numerous instances is modern times, see A. H. Post, Grundriss der ethnol. Jurisprudenz (1894–5), ii. 238 ff. <A name="26"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-26.htm">Exodus 21:26</a></div><div class="verse">And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.</div>26, 27. Striking out the eye or tooth of a slave. The person of slave being not as valuable as that of a free man, the lex talionis (vv. 23–25) is not applicable in his case (cf. Ḥamm. § 199, as compared with § 196): the slave, however, receives his freedom as compensation for his injury, and his master pays for his maltreatment of him by the loss of his services. <A name="27"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-27.htm">Exodus 21:27</a></div><div class="verse">And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.</div><A name="28"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-28.htm">Exodus 21:28</a></div><div class="verse">If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.</div>28. shall be stoned] The sanctity of human life demanded that an animal, not less than a man, should suffer for violating it: cf. (in P) <a href="/genesis/9-5.htm" title="And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.">Genesis 9:5</a>. Stoning was a common punishment among the Hebrew see e.g. <a href="/leviticus/20-2.htm" title="Again, you shall say to the children of Israel, Whoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that gives any of his seed to Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.">Leviticus 20:2</a>; <a href="/leviticus/20-27.htm" title="A man also or woman that has a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be on them.">Leviticus 20:27</a>; <a href="/leviticus/24-14.htm" title="Bring forth him that has cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.">Leviticus 24:14</a>; <a href="/leviticus/24-16.htm" title="And he that blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemes the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.">Leviticus 24:16</a>; <a href="/leviticus/24-23.htm" title="And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.">Leviticus 24:23</a>, <a href="/deuteronomy/13-10.htm" title="And you shall stone him with stones, that he die; because he has sought to thrust you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.">Deuteronomy 13:10</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/17-5.htm" title="Then shall you bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, to your gates, even that man or that woman, and shall stone them with stones, till they die.">Deuteronomy 17:5</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/21-21.htm" title="And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shall you put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.">Deuteronomy 21:21</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/22-21.htm" title="Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she has worked folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shall you put evil away from among you.">Deuteronomy 22:21</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/22-24.htm" title="Then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife: so you shall put away evil from among you.">Deuteronomy 22:24</a> f.: of an animal, as here, vv. 29, 32, <a href="/exodus/19-13.htm" title="There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to the mount.">Exodus 19:13</a>. For the punishment of an animal—and even of an inanimate object, such as a piece of wood or stone—which had caused the death of a human being, there are many analogies. At Athens the court of the Phylobasileis (‘Tribe-kings’) in the Prytaneion, established, it was said, Draco (b.c. 624), investigated cases thus arising (Demosth. adv. Aristocr. § 76, p. 645, Arist. Constit. of Athens, 57 end); and so Plato (Legg. ix. 873 e–874 a) would have an animal or inanimate object that had killed a man tried, and, if found guilty, expelled from the country (the animal having been first slain). Pausanias (v. 27. 10; vi. 11. 6) mentions two cases of statues, one thrown into the sea, and the other ceremonially purified, for having caused a death. An interesting collection of parallels from many different nations is given by Frazer, Pausanias, ii. 370 ff. (cited by Cook, p. 252, who also refers to Baring-Gould, Curiosities of Olden Times, 1895, p. 57 ff.),—many taken from Chambers, Book of Days, i. 126 ff. In mediaeval Europe animals charged with causing a death were often tried in a court of law, and, if found guilty, killed: a cow was executed in this way in France as late as 1740. his flesh shall not be eaten] Blood-guilt would be resting upon it, which would be transferred to any one partaking of it. quit] i.e. pronounced innocent, acquitted, as v. 19. The owner is acquitted, because it is assumed to be the first time that the animal has so acted. On ‘quit,’ see Aldis Wright’s Bible Word-Book, s.v. 28–32. Injury done by a vicious ox to a free man or woman. Cf Ḥamm. §§ 250–2. 28–36. Bodily injuries due to animals, or neglect of reasonable precautions. <A name="29"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-29.htm">Exodus 21:29</a></div><div class="verse">But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.</div>29. If, however, the owner of the animal had been warned that it was vicious, and had taken no precautions to keep it in, he is held responsible, if it kills any one, and must suffer the penalty of death himself. <A name="30"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-30.htm">Exodus 21:30</a></div><div class="verse">If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.</div>30. The owner of the ox may, however, escape the extreme penalty of the law, if the relatives of the man who had been killed are willing to accept a money-compensation for his life. The owner’s negligence amounted to murder only in theory, so it was reasonable to allow him his merciful alternative. be laid on him (cf. v. 22)] viz. by the relatives of the man who has been killed. a ransom] Heb. kôpher, the price of a life: see <a href="/exodus/30-12.htm" title="When you take the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to the LORD, when you number them; that there be no plague among them, when you number them.">Exodus 30:12</a>, <a href="/psalms/49-7.htm" title="None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:">Psalm 49:7</a>, <a href="/proverbs/6-35.htm" title="He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.">Proverbs 6:35</a>; <a href="/proverbs/13-8.htm" title="The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor hears not rebuke.">Proverbs 13:8</a>; <a href="/proverbs/21-18.htm" title="The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.">Proverbs 21:18</a>, <a href="/isaiah/43-3.htm" title="For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior: I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you.">Isaiah 43:3</a>. This and v. 32 are the only cases in which Heb. law allowed what was so common among many ancient nations, the ποινή, or ‘wergild,’ i.e. the money offered for the life of a murdered man to appease a kinsman’s wrath: see <a href="/numbers/35-31.htm" title="Moreover you shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.">Numbers 35:31</a> f. (P), where the acceptance of a kôpher is forbidden. redemption] The same word, in a similar connexion, <a href="/psalms/49-8.htm" title="(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceases for ever:)">Psalm 49:8</a> (where ‘soul’ = ‘life’ here, lit. soul). For the corresponding verb, used of the redemption of a life that is forfeit, see on <a href="/exodus/13-13.htm" title="And every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among your children shall you redeem.">Exodus 13:13</a>. <A name="31"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-31.htm">Exodus 21:31</a></div><div class="verse">Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.</div>31. The same law is to hold good, if the person who has been killed is (as we should say) a minor, of either sex. this judgement] The decision embodied in the preceding laws (vv. 28–30). Cf. on v. 1. <A name="32"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-32.htm">Exodus 21:32</a></div><div class="verse">If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.</div>32. If the ox killed a slave, however, it was sufficient if its owner paid his master as compensation the ordinary value of a slave, and suffered at the same time the loss of his animal’s services. Another instance of the lower value set upon a slave’s life: he is in this case valued simply as a chattel. a manservant or a maidservant] a male or female Slave. thirty shekels of silver] doubtless the average price of a slave at the time It seems that the intrinsic value of a shekel of silver was about 2 Samuel 9 d. (DB. iii. 420a), so that the silver of 30 shekels would be worth now about £4. 2 Samuel 6 d, (though its purchasing power would be many times greater: ibid. note, and 431 f.). The free Hebrew was valued at 50 shekels (<a href="/leviticus/27-3.htm" title="And your estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even to sixty years old, even your estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.">Leviticus 27:3</a> f.). The same sum was offered as his wages to the prophet who, in the allegory of Zechariah 11, represented the rejected ruler of his people (v. 12: cf. <a href="/matthew/26-15.htm" title="And said to them, What will you give me, and I will deliver him to you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.">Matthew 26:15</a>). Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver (<a href="/genesis/37-28.htm" title="Then there passed by Midianites merchants; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.">Genesis 37:28</a> b [J]). <A name="33"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-33.htm">Exodus 21:33</a></div><div class="verse">And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;</div>33, 34. Injury caused by culpable neglect in leaving an open pit. open] i.e. open a pit which already existed = reopen. a pit] for the storage of water or (cf. <a href="/jeremiah/41-8.htm" title="But ten men were found among them that said to Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he declined, and slew them not among their brothers.">Jeremiah 41:8</a>; Thomson, L. and B. i. 89, 90, ii. 194, iii. 458) grain, or perhaps also for the capture of wild beasts. Thomson (ii. 283) writes, ‘I have been astonished at the recklessness with which wells and pits are left uncovered and unprotected all over this country’; and adds that he had seen a blind man walk into such a well, and known a valuable horse lost similarly <A name="34"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-34.htm">Exodus 21:34</a></div><div class="verse">The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.</div>34. Having paid the value of the dead animal to the owner, he is naturally at liberty to keep the carcase himself. The carcase would be of value for its hide: but though ‘that which died of itself’ was forbidden later as food (<a href="/deuteronomy/14-21.htm" title="You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you shall give it to the stranger that is in your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to an alien: for you are an holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.">Deuteronomy 14:21</a>; cf. <a href="/leviticus/17-15.htm" title="And every soul that eats that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.">Leviticus 17:15</a> f. P), this may not have been the case at the time when the present code of laws was drawn up. money] i.e. to the value of the beast; its money (= the price of it, v. 35: כספו for כסף) would be clearer, and should perhaps be restored. <A name="35"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-35.htm">Exodus 21:35</a></div><div class="verse">And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.</div>35. ‘If this admirable statute were faithfully administered now, it would prevent many angry, and sometimes fatal, feuds between herds-men, and at the same time would be a very fair adjustment of the questions of equity that grow out of such accidents’ (Thomson, L. and B. ii. 283). It is now the ‘custom of the desert’ (Doughty, Arab. Deserta, i. 351). 35, 36. Injury done by an ox to one belonging to another person. If no neglect can be proved against the owner of the vicious ox, the damage is to be divided equally between the owners of the two animals (v. 35): but if the owner of the vicious ox culpably neglects to keep it in, he is to make full compensation to the owner of the ox which has been killed. <A name="36"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/exodus/21-36.htm">Exodus 21:36</a></div><div class="verse">Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.</div>36. and the dead beast shall be his] as v. 34. <div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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