Exo 21:1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
Now these are the judgments - The judicial laws respecting the civil state of the people of Israel, so called because they are founded on justice and equity, and are according to the judgment of God, whose judgment is according to truth; and because they are such by which the commonwealth of Israel was to be judged or governed, and were to be the rule of their conduct to one another, and a rule of judgment to their judges in the execution of judgment and justice among them:
which thou shall set before them - besides the ten commands before delivered; these were delivered to Moses after he went up to the mount again, at the request of the people, to be their mediator, to be by him set before them as the rule of their behavior; and as their government was a Theocracy, and God was more immediately their King than he was of any other people, it was but right, and what might be expected, that they should have their civil laws from him, and which was their privilege, and gave them the preference to all other nations, Deu_4:5.
Now these are the judgments - The first verse is the general title of the laws contained in this and the two following chapters. Their government being purely a theocracy; that which in other states is to be settled by human prudence, was directed among them by a divine appointment. These laws are called judgments; because their magistrates were to give judgment according to them. In the doubtful cases that had hitherto occurred, Moses had particularly enquired of God, but now God gave him statutes in general, by which to determine particular cases. He begins with the laws concerning servants, commanding mercy and moderation towards them. The Israelites had lately been servants themselves, and now they were become not only their own masters, but masters of servants too; lest they should abuse their servants as they themselves had been abused, provision was made for the mild and gentle usage of servants.
Now these are the judgments - The mishpatim (Exo_21:1) are not the “laws, which were to be in force and serve as rules of action,” but the rights, by which the national life was formed into a civil commonwealth and the political order secured. These rights had reference first of all to the relation in which the individuals stood one towards another. The personal rights of dependants are placed at the head (Exo_21:2-11); and first those of slaves (Exo_21:2-6), which are still more minutely explained in Deu_15:12-18, where the observance of them is urged upon the hearts of the people on subjective grounds.
Now these are the judgments - The laws in this chapter relate to the fifth and sixth commandments; and though they differ from our times and customs, nor are they binding on us, yet they explain the moral law, and the rules of natural justice. The servant, in the state of servitude, was an emblem of that state of bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, which man is brought into by robbing God of his glory, by the transgression of his precepts. Likewise in being made free, he was an emblem of that liberty wherewith Christ, the Son of God, makes free from bondage his people, who are free indeed; and made so freely, without money and without price, of free grace.
Exo 21:2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
If thou buy a Hebrew servant - A Hebrew might be sold as a bondman in consequence either of debt Lev_25:39 And if your brother who lives beside you has become poor, and is sold to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bond-servant or of the commission of theft. But his servitude could not be enforced for more than six full years.
If thou buy a Hebrew servant – One scholar enumerates six different ways in which a Hebrew might lose his liberty:
1. In extreme poverty they might sell their liberty. Lev_25:39.
2. A father might sell his children. If a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant; see Exo_21:7 And if a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
3. Insolvent debtors became the slaves of their creditors. 2Ki_4:1 And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead. And you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the lender has come to take my two children to himself for slaves.
4. A thief, if he had not money to pay the fine laid on him by the law, was to be sold for his profit whom he had robbed. If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft; Exo_22:3-4 If the sun is risen upon him, blood is due for him. He should repay in full. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the theft is certainly found in his hand alive, whether it is an ox, or an ass, or a sheep, he shall restore double.
5. A Hebrew was liable to be taken prisoner in war, and so sold for a slave.
6. A Hebrew slave who had been ransomed from a Gentile by a Hebrew might be sold by him who ransomed him, to one of his own nation.
Six years he shall serve - It was an excellent provision in these laws, that no man could finally injure himself by any rash, foolish, or precipitate act. No man could make himself a servant or slave for more than seven years; and if he mortgaged the family inheritance, it must return to the family at the jubilee, which returned every fiftieth year.
It is supposed that the term six years is to be understood as referring to the sabbatical years; for let a man come into servitude at whatever part of the interim between two sabbatical years, he could not be detained in bondage beyond a sabbatical year; so that if he fell into bondage the third year after a sabbatical year, he had but three years to serve; if the fifth, but one. Others suppose that this privilege belonged only to the year of jubilee, beyond which no man could be detained in bondage, though he had been sold only one year before.
six years he shall serve - and no longer; and the Jewish scholars say, if his master dies within the six years he must serve his son, but not his daughter, nor his brother, nor any other heirs:
in the seventh he shall go out free - without paying any money for his freedom, as it is explained Exo_21:11, nay, on the other hand, his master was not to send him away empty, but furnish him liberally out of his flock, floor, and wine press, since his six years' servitude was worth double that of an hired servant, Deu_15:13, and his freedom was to take place as soon as the six years were ended, and the seventh began. Now as this servant, in the state of servitude, was an emblem of that state of bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, which man is brought into by his theft, his robbing God of his glory by the transgression of his precepts; so likewise, in his being made free, he was an emblem of that liberty wherewith Christ, the Son of God, makes his people free from the said bondage, and who are free indeed, and made so freely without money, and without price, of pure free grace, without any merit or deservence of theirs; and which freedom is attended with many bountiful and liberal blessings of grace.
If thou buy an Hebrew servant - Every Israelite was free-born; but slavery was permitted under certain restrictions. An Hebrew might be made a slave through poverty, debt, or crime; but at the end of six years he was entitled to freedom, and his wife, if she had voluntarily shared his state of bondage, also obtained release. Should he, however, have married a female slave, she and the children, after the husband's liberation, remained the master's property; and if, through attachment to his family, the Hebrew chose to forfeit his privilege and abide as he was, a formal process was gone through in a public court, and a brand of servitude stamped on his ear (Psa_40:6) for life, or at least till the Jubilee (Deu_15:17). The word limits the rule to Israelite servants, in distinction from slaves of foreign extraction, to whom this law did not apply.
Exo 21:3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If he came in by himself - If a married man became a bondman, his rights in regard to his wife were respected: but if a single bondman accepted at the hand of his master a bondwoman as his wife, the master did not lose his claim to the woman or her children, at the expiration of the husband’s term of service. Such wives, it may be presumed, were always foreign slaves.
Exo 21:4 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.
The wife and her children shall be her master’s - It was a law among the Hebrews, that if a Hebrew had children by a Canannite woman, those children must be considered as Canaanite only, and might be sold and bought, and serve for ever. The law here refers to such a case only.
If his master have given him a wife - One of his slaves, a Canaanitish woman, on purpose to beget slaves on her, since all born in his house were his own; this is supposed to be after he was come into his house, and into his service:
If his master have given him a wife - Scripture speaks of a Canaanitish woman, for an Hebrew woman went out at the sixth year.
Exo 21:5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
I will not go out free - shall express himself in plain and full terms, continue in his servitude, having a great affection for his master, and that he might enjoy his wife and children he dearly loved; and being animated with such a principle, his servitude was a pleasure to him.
Exo 21:6 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.
Serve him forever - That is, most probably, until the next Jubilee, when every Hebrew was set free. Lev_25:40 As a hired servant, as a temporary resident, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the year of jubilee, Lev_25:50 And he shall count with his buyer from the year that he was sold to him, until the year of jubilee. And the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant it shall be with him.
Bore his ear with an awl - The custom of boring the ear as a mark of slavery appears to have been a common one in ancient times, observed in many nations.
Shall bring him unto the judges - literally, to God; or, as the Septuagint have it, to the judgment of God. No doubt civil magistrates or judges are meant by Elohim, or the gods, as in Psa_82:1
he shall also bring him to the door - either of the gate of the city, where the judges were sitting; or rather the door of his master, or any other man's.
Bore his ear with an awl - the ear is an hieroglyphic of obedience, and the boring of it through to the doorpost denotes the strict and close obedience of such a servant to his master, and how he is, and ought to be, addicted to his service, and be constantly employed in it, and never stir from it, nor so much as go over the threshold of his master's house. This custom of boring a servant's ear continued in Syria till the times of Juvenal.
Bore his ear with an awl - This significant ceremony was intended as a mark of permanent servitude, and was calculated to impress the servant with the duty of hearing all his master’s orders, and obeying them punctually.
Forever - As long as he lives, or till the year of Jubilee.
Exo 21:7 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
If a man sell his daughter - A man might, in accordance with existing custom, sell his daughter to another man with a view to her becoming an inferior wife, or concubine. In this case, she was not “to go out,” like the bondman; that is, she was not to be dismissed at the end of the sixth year. But women who were bound in any other way, would appear to have been under the same conditions as bondmen. Deu_15:17.
If a man sell his daughter - This the Jews allowed no man to do but in extreme distress - when he had no goods, either movable or immovable left, even to the clothes on his back; and he had this permission only while she was unmarriageable. It may appear at first view strange that such a law should have been given; but let it be remembered, that this servitude could extend, at the utmost, only to six years; and that it was nearly the same as in some cases of apprenticeship among us, where the parents bind the child for seven years, and have from the master so much per week during that period.
If a man sell his daughter - That is, if an Israelite sells his little daughter, one that is under age, that is not arrived to the age of twelve years and a day, and this through poverty; he not being able to support himself and his family, puts his daughter out to service, or rather sells her to be a servant:
If a man sell his daughter - Hebrew girls might be redeemed for a reasonable sum. But in the event of her parents or friends being unable to pay the redemption money, her owner was not at liberty to sell her elsewhere. Should she have been betrothed to him or his son, and either change their minds, a maintenance must be provided for her suitable to her condition as his intended wife, or her freedom instantly granted.
If a man sell his daughter - The daughter of an Israelite, who had been sold by her father as a maid-servant, as a housekeeper and concubine, stood in a different relation to her master's house. She was not to go out like the men-servants, not to be sent away as free at the end of six years of service; but the three following regulations were to be observed with regard to her. In the first place (Exo_21:8), “if she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed.” In the second place (Exo_21:9, Exo_21:10), “if he appoint her as his son's wife, he shall act towards her according to the rights of daughters,” i.e., treat her as a daughter; In the third place (Exo_21:11), “if he do not (do not grant) these three unto her, she shall go out for nothing, without money.” “These three” are food, clothing, and conjugal rights, which are mentioned just before;
Exo 21:8 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.
If she please not her master - he has no liking of her, and love to her, not being agreeable in her person, temper, or conduct, so that he does not choose to make her his wife:
who hath betrothed her to him - but not completed the marriage, as he promised, when he bought her, or at least gave reason to expect that he would; for, according to the Jewish canons, a Hebrew handmaid might not be sold but to one who laid himself under obligation to espouse her to himself, or his son, when she was fit to be betrothed; and so he ought to espouse her, and take her to be his wife, for the money of her purchase is the money of her espousals.
then shall he let her be redeemed - she being at age, and fit for marriage, and her master not caring to marry her, her father shall redeem her (according to the Targum); it was incumbent on him to do that, as it was on her master to let her be redeemed, to admit of the redemption of her; or whether she redeemed herself, or her father, or one of her relations (according to other scholars).
to sell her unto a strange nation - that is, to another man, as the Targum, even to an Israelite that was of another family, to whom the right of redemption did not belong; for to sell an Israelite, man or woman, to a Gentile, or one of another nation, was not allowed of in any case, as Josephus observes; but the meaning is, he had no power to sell her to another, though of the same nation, to be his handmaid; this power neither her master nor her father had, she being redeemed, and in her own power.
seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her - in not fulfilling his promise made to her father when he sold her to him, or not answering the expectation he had raised in her; and especially he dealt thus with her, if he had corrupted her, and yet refused to betroth and marry her.
Exo 21:9 And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
Betrothed her unto his son - He shall give her the same dowry he would give to one of his own daughters. From these laws we learn, that if a man’s son married his servant, by his father’s consent, the father was obliged to treat her in every respect as a daughter; and if the son married another woman, as it appears he might do, Exo_21:10, he was obliged to make no abatement in the privileges of the first wife, either in her food, raiment, or duty of marriage. The word used here is the same with Paul’s word for the marriage debt, and with the word used in the Septuagint which signifies the cohabitation of man and wife.
he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters - as if she was his daughter, and give her a dowry: or the son shall treat her after the manner the daughters of Israel are treated when married, by giving her food, raiment, and the duty of marriage.
Exo 21:10 If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
If he take him another wife - The father takes another wife for his son, or the son takes another wife to himself after he has betrothed and married his father's maidservant:
shall he not diminish - neither deny it her in whole, nor lessen it in part, but give her her full due of each.
Her duty of marriage - Some take it to signify no other than an "habitation", that as he was to provide food and raiment for her, so an house to dwell, in; but the generality of interpreters, Jewish and Christian, understand it as we do, of the conjugal duty, the use of the marriage bed, or what the apostle calls due benevolence, 1Co_7:3 Let the husband give to the wife proper kindness, and likewise the wife also to the husband.
her food - Sheairah, “her flesh;” he shall not only afford her a sufficient quantity of food, as before, but of the same quality. She is not to be fed, like a common slave, with a sufficiency of bread, vegetables, milk, etc., but with her customary supply of flesh, and other agreeable articles of food. 1Co_7:1-6
Exo 21:11 And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.
If he do not these three unto her - The words express a choice of one of three things according to most scholars. The man was to give the woman, whom he had purchased from her father, her freedom, unless
(i) he caused her to be redeemed by a Hebrew master Exo_21:8; or,
(ii) gave her to his son, and treated her as a daughter Exo_21:9; or,
(iii) in the event of his taking another wife Exo_21:10, unless he allowed her to retain her place and privileges.
These rules Exo_21:7-11 are to be regarded as mitigations of the then existing usages of concubinage.
These three - One scholar takes it to mean these three: her food, clothes, and marriage debt.
then shall she go out free without money - be dismissed from her servitude, and not obliged to pay anything for her freedom.
Exo 21:12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
He that smiteth a man - The case of murder of a free man and of a bondman. The law was afterward expressly declared to relate also to foreigners, Lev_24:17, Lev_24:21-22;
shall surely be put to death - by the order of the civil magistrate, and by the hand of such as shall be appointed by him; for this is the original law of God, Gen_9:6 Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man; for He made man in the image of God.
He that smiteth a man - A death-blow was to be punished with death (Gen_9:6; Lev_24:17). This general rule is still further defined by a distinction being drawn between accidental and intentional killing. For such a man who kills accidentally, God would appoint places of refuge, where he should be protected against the avenger of blood.
Exo 21:13 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.
And if a man lie not in wait - for one who killed a man “at unawares,” that is, without intending to do it, the law afterward appointed places of refuge, Num. 35:6-34; Deu_4:41-43; Deu_19:2-10; Jos_20:2-9.
I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee - From the earliest times the nearest akin had a right to revenge the murder of his relation, and as this right was universally acknowledged, no law was ever made on the subject; but as this might be abused, and a person who had killed another accidentally, having had no previous malice against him, might be put to death by the avenger of blood, as the nearest kinsman was termed, therefore God provided the cities of refuge to which the accidental manslayer might flee till the affair was inquired into, and settled by the civil magistrate.
but God delivers him into his hand - it being suffered and ordered by the providence of God, without whose knowledge and will nothing comes to pass, even what may seem to be a contingent thing, or matter of chance, to us; or it is so brought about in providence, that one man falls into the hands of another, and his life is taken away by him, though not purposely and maliciously.
I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee - and there be safe both from the avenger of blood, and the civil magistrate; which place, while Israel were in the wilderness, was the camp of the Levites, according to one scholar, or the altar according to another scholar; but when they were come to Canaan's land, there were cities of refuge appointed for such persons, that killed a man unawares, to flee to, and where they were safe from private vengeance, and falling a sacrifice to public justice.
Exo 21:14 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.
Thou shalt take him from mine altar - Before the cities of refuge were assigned, the altar of God was the common asylum. The law refers not to a person ministering in his office at the altar of the Lord, but to one that should flee there for safety, which yet he should not have.
Thou shalt take him from mine altar - These words are not to be understood as meaning, that only intentional and treacherous killing was to be punished with death; but, without restricting the general rule in Exo_21:12, they are to be interpreted from their antithesis to Exo_21:13, as signifying that even the altar of Jehovah was not to protect a man who had committed intentional murder, and carried out his purpose with treachery.
Exo 21:15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
That smiteth his father, or his mother - As such a case argued peculiar depravity, therefore no mercy was to be shown to the culprit.
That smiteth his father, or his mother - With his fist, or with a stick, or cane, or such thing, though they died not with the blow, yet it occasioned any wound, or caused a bruise, or the part smitten black and blue, or left any print of the blow.
That smiteth his father, or his mother - To smite either father or mother, in a manner which indicated either contempt or malice, or left marks of violence, was deemed a proof of so ungrateful and unnatural a disposition, that no provocation was admitted as an excuse, but the offence was made capital. The law of God, as delegated to parents is honored when they are honored, and despised when they are despised, and to rebel against the lawful exercise of this authority is rebellion against God
shall be surely put to death – Jewish scholars said this was done by strangulation. This crime was made capital, to show the heinousness of it, how detestable it was to God, and in order to deter from it.
Exo 21:16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
He that stealeth a man - By this law every man-stealer, and every receiver of the stolen person, should lose his life; no matter whether the latter stole the man himself, or gave money to a slave captain to steal him for him.
He that stealeth a man - One of the children of Israel, but though this law was given to the Israelites primarily, yet was made for men stealers in general, as the apostle observes, who plainly has reference to it, 1Ti_1:9-11 knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous one, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and anything else that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
or if he be found in his hand - before the selling of him, as Jarchi notes, since he stole him in order to sell him, he was guilty of death.
he shall surely be put to death - with strangling, as the same Jewish writer remarks, as on the preceding verse.
Exo 21:17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
he that curseth his father, or his mother - Though he does not smite them with his hand, or with any instrument in it, yet if he smites them with his tongue, reviles and reproaches them, speaks evil of them, wishes dreadful imprecations upon them, wishing the Lord would curse them, or that his curse might light upon them, Pro_20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in deep darkness.
shall surely be put to death - or be killed with casting stones on him, one scholar observes that wherever it is said, "his blood be upon him", it is meant of stoning, as it is of the man that curses his father or his mother, Lev_20:9 And any man who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be on him. It was done in this manner, the place of stoning was two cubits high, to which the malefactor with his hands bound was brought; from whence one of the witnesses against him cast him down headlong, of which, if he did not die, then they took up stones and cast on him, and if he died not through them, then all Israel came and stoned him; that is, the multitude upon the spot.
Exo 21:18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
And if men strive together - Quarrel and fight, and wrestle with and box one another:
and he die not, but keepeth his bed - does not die with the blow of the stone or fist, yet receives so much damage by it that he is obliged to take to his bed. Fatal blows and the crimes placed on a par with them are now followed in simple order by the laws relating to bodily injuries.
and he die not, but keepeth his bed - This certainly implies, on the one hand, that if the man died upon his bed, the injury was to be punished with death, according to Exo_21:12; and on the other hand, that if he died after getting up and going out, no further punishment was to be inflicted for the injury done.
Exo 21:19 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.
then shall he that smote him be quit - if one man injured another in a quarrel so as to oblige him to keep his bed, he was free from the liability to a criminal charge (such as might be based upon Exo_21:12): but he was required to compensate the latter for the loss of his time, and for the cost of his healing.
and walk abroad upon his staff - if he is able to get out of his bed, and can be seen walking about in the street or in the field, though he is obliged to make use of a staff, and lean upon it, being yet weak and sickly:
then shall he that smote him be quit - from the judgment of slaying, he shall not be charged with manslaughter, or be found guilty of a capital crime, but discharged from that:
and cause him to be thoroughly healed - take care that he has a physician or surgeon, and that the proper medicines be applied, and those continued until he is quite well; all which must be at the expense of the smiter.
Exo 21:20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
And if a man smite his servant or his maid - A Canaanitish servant or maid; and that only with a rod for the correction of them, and not with a sword or any such destroying weapon, which would seem as though he intended to kill. The master had always the right to punish or “chasten” him with a stick (Pro_10:13; Pro_13:24); this right was involved in the paternal authority of the master over the servants in his possession. The law was therefore confined to the abuse of this authority.
and he die under his hand - immediately, while he is smiting or beating him or her, or on the same day.
he shall be surely punished - or condemned to the punishment of being slain with the sword, as the said Targum explains it, although one scholar disputes that meaning. This law was made to deter masters from using severity and cruelty towards their servants.
Exo 21:21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
if he continue a day or two - If the slave survived the beating a day or two the master was not punished, because it might be presumed that the man died through some other cause.
for he is his money - is bought with his money, and is good as money, and therefore it is a loss sufficient to him to lose him; and it may be reasonably thought he did not smite his servant with an intention to kill him, since he himself is the loser by it.
Exo 21:22 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.
And hurt a woman with child - As a posterity among the Jews was among the peculiar promises of their covenant, and as every man had some reason to think that the Messiah should spring from his family, therefore any injury done to a woman with child, by which the fruit of her womb might be destroyed, was considered a very heavy offense; and as the crime was committed principally against the husband, the degree of punishment was left to his discretion. But if mischief followed, that is, if the child had been fully formed, and was killed by this means, or the woman lost her life in consequence, then the punishment was as in other cases of murder - the person was put to death; Exo_21:23.
If men strive - Quarrel and fight with one another.
and yet no mischief follow - to her, as Jewish scholars interpret it; and which mischief they interpret as death; but it may refer both to the woman and her offspring, and not only to the death of them, but to any hurt or damage to either of them. In the context of this verse, no damage is done.
he shall surely be punished - that is, be fined or forfeiture for striking the woman, and hastening the childbirth:
Exo 21:23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
then thou shalt give life for life - if death to the woman, as some interpret it; "but if there is death in her, then ye shall judge or condemn the life of the murderer for the life of the woman.''
then thou shalt give life for life - Scholars are divided; some say life of the person himself; others say money, but not life properly; for he that intends to kill one and kills another is acquitted from death, but must pay to the heirs the price (of the person killed) as that person might be sold for in the market:
Exo 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Eye for eye - This is the earliest account we have of the lex talionis, or law of like for like, the law of retaliation, which afterwards prevailed among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this is to be taken strictly and literally, or only for pecuniary fines is not certain.
Eye for eye - The execution of this law is not put into the hands of private persons, as if every man might avenge himself, which would introduce universal confusion. The magistrates had an eye to this rule in punishing offenders, and doing right to those that are injured.
Eye for eye - The law which authorized retaliation (a principle acted upon by all primitive people) was a civil one. It was given to regulate the procedure of the public magistrate in determining the amount of compensation in every case of injury, but did not encourage feelings of private revenge. The later Jews, however, mistook it for a moral precept, and were corrected by our Lord Mat_5:38-42 You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But I say to you, Do not resist evil. But whoever shall strike you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. And to him desiring to sue you, and to take away your tunic, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and you shall not turn away from him who would borrow from you.
Exo 21:25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe - This is to be understood of burning a man's flesh with fire; of wounds made by any means, so that the blood is let out; and of blows, and the prints and marks of them; of stripes and weals where the blood is settled, and the part is turned black and blue: the Targum states a price is to be paid in recompense for the pain of burning etc.
Exo 21:26 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.
If a man smite the eye - Give him a blow on the eye in a passion, as a correction for some fault he has committed:
he shall let him go free - his right to them as a servant was hereby forfeited, and he was obliged to give them their freedom. This law was made to deter masters from using their servants with cruelty, since though humanity and goodness would not restrain them from ill usage of them, their own profit and advantage by them might. Freedom was the proper equivalent for permanent injury.
Of his servan or of his maid - But the lex talionis applied to the free Israelite only, not to slaves. In the case of the latter, if the master struck out an eye and destroyed it, i.e., blinded him with the blow, or struck out a tooth, he was to let him go free, as a compensation for the loss of the member. Eye and tooth are individual examples selected to denote all the members, from the most important and indispensable down to the very least.
Exo 21:27 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.
If he smite out his tooth - Give them such a slap on the face, or a blow on the mouth, as to strike out one of their teeth; this also the Targum restrains to a Canaanitish servant or maid: If this did not teach them humanity, it taught them caution, as one rash blow might have deprived them of all right to the future services of the slave; and thus self-interest obliged them to be cautious and circumspect.
he shall let him go free - though of lesser consequence than the loss of an eye, was punished in the same manner with the loss of the servant man or maid, to make masters careful how they abused their servants in any degree. And though only these parts are expressed, yet Jewish scholars observe, that all other principal members of the body, which they reckon to be twenty four, are included, as the fingers, toes, &c.
Exo 21:28 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.
If an ox gore a man - The animal was slain as a tribute to the sanctity of human life It was stoned, and its flesh was treated as carrion. Guilty negligence on the part of its owner was reckoned a capital offence, to be commuted for a fine.
If an ox gore a man - In the case of a slave, the payment was the standard price of a slave, thirty shekels of silver. See Lev_25:44-46; Lev_27:3.
His flesh shall not be eaten - This served to keep up a due detestation of murder, whether committed by man or beast; and at the same time punished the man as far as possible, by the total loss of the beast. And even though it might have been killed in a regular manner before it was stoned, it was not to be eaten; for all profit of them is here forbidden.
and his flesh shall not be eaten - it being as an impure beast according to this sentence, as one Jewish scholar observes; it was laden with the guilt of murder, and therefore had become unclean (Num_35:33).
then the ox shall be surely stoned - which is but an exemplification of the original law given to Noah and his sons, Gen_9:5 and surely the blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every animal 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; 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:
the owner of the ox shall be quit - from punishment, he shall only suffer the loss of his ox: and also from the price of a servant or maid.
If an ox gore a man --For the purpose of sanctifying human blood, and representing all injuries affecting life in a serious light, an animal that occasioned death was to be killed or suffer punishment proportioned to the degree of damage it had caused.
Exo 21:29 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.
it hath been testified to his owner - by sufficient witnesses, who saw him push at people for three days past: the Targum says,"and it hath been testified to the face of his owner three days. ''Concerning this testimony another Jewish scholar writes,"this is a testification, all that testify of it three days; but if he pushes, or bites, or kicks, or strikes even an hundred times on one day, this is no testification (not a sufficient one): three companies of witnesses testify of it in one day, lo, this is a doubt, whether it is a (proper) testimony or not; there is no testification but before the owner, and before the sanhedrim:"
and he hath not kept him in - in some enclosed place, house or field, not frequented by people, and where there was no danger of doing any hurt, if this care was not taken, after a proper testimony had been given of his vicious disposition
his owner shall be put to death - since he was accessory to the death of the person killed, not keeping in his beast, when he had sufficient notice of his vicious temper. Gen_9:6 Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man; for He made man in the image of God.
Exo 21:30 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.
If there be laid on him a sum of money - So it appears that, though by the law he forfeited his life, yet this might be commuted for a pecuniary fine, at which the life of the deceased might be valued by the magistrates. This is the only case where a money compensation, instead of capital punishment, was expressly allowed in the Mosaic law.
If there be laid on him a sum of money - if his sentence of death is commuted for a fine, with the consent of the relations of the deceased, who in such a case are willing to show mercy, and take a fine instead of the person's death; supposing it was through carelessness and negligence, and not with any ill design that he did not keep up his ox from doing damage, after he had notice:
then he shall give for the ransom of his life - whatever mulct or fine given by the court, instead of the sentence of death first pronounced. The ransom is given to the heirs of the slain; and if a woman is killed, according to Jewish scholars, the ransom is given to the heirs of her father's (family), and not to her husband.''
Exo 21:31 Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
Whether he have gored a son a daughter - A little son or daughter; this is observed, because only a man or woman are made mention of in Exo_21:29 persons grown up; and lest it should be thought that only adult persons were intended, this is added, to show that the same regard is had to little ones as to grown persons, should they suffer by an ox in like manner as men and women may. The Targum restrains this to a son or daughter of an Israelite; but the life of everyone, of whatsoever nation, is equally provided for, and guarded against by the original law of God:
according to this judgment shall it be done unto him - to the owner of the ox that has gored a child, male or female; that is, he shall be put to death, if he has been warned of the practice of his ox for three days past, and has took no care to keep him in; or he shall pay the ransom of his life, as it has been laid by the court, with the consent of the relations of the children.
Whether he have gored a son a daughter - The death of a son or a daughter through the goring of an ox was also to be treated in the same way; but that of a slave (man-servant or maid-servant) was to be compensated by the payment of thirty shekels of silver (i.e., probably the ordinary price for the redemption of a slave, as the redemption price of a free Israelite was fifty shekels, Lev_27:3) on the part of the owner of the ox; but the ox was to be killed in this case also.
Exo 21:32 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.
Thirty shekels - At this price these same vile people valued the life of our blessed Lord; Zec_11:12-13 And I said to them, If it is good, give My price; and if not, let it go. So they weighed My price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said to me, Throw it to the potter, the magnificent price at which I was valued by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD. Mat_26:14-15 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests. And he said to them, What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you? And they appointed to him thirty pieces of silver. And in return, the justice of God has ordered it so, that they have been sold for slaves into every country of the universe.
If the ox shall push a manservant, or a maidservant - Which the Targum interprets 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 - 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.
Exo 21:33 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;
And if a man shall open a pit - That is, if a man shall open a well or cistern that had been before closed up, or dig a new one; for these two cases are plainly intimated: and if he did this in some public place where there was danger that men or cattle might fall into it; for a man might do as he pleased in his own grounds, as those were his private right. In the above case, if he had neglected to cover the pit, and his neighbor’s ox or ass was killed by falling into it, he was to pay its value in money.
and an ox or an ass fall therein - or any other beast, for these are mentioned only as instances, and are put for all others (mentioned, for the sake of example, as the most important animals among the live stock of the Israelites). Passing from life to property, in connection with the foregoing, the life of the animal, the most important possession of the Israelites, is first of all secured against destruction through carelessness.
Exo 21:34 The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.
The owner of the pit shall make it good - Repair the loss of the ox or ass:
and give the money unto the owner of them - the price of them, what they are worth:
and the dead beast shall be his - the owner of the pit; who pays the full value for the ox or ass killed, which seems but reasonable; although one scholar says the owner of the animal gets to keep the dead beast.
Exo 21:35 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.
Divide the dead ox - The dead ox in this case, as well as in the preceding one, must have been worth no more than the price of the hide, as the flesh could not be eaten. See Lev_17:1-6. They divide the money the carcass is worth; or it is sold for.
divide the money – various writers make the claim that it was not a straight division but one based on equivalent values of each ox.
Exo 21:36 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.
the ox hath used to push in time past - If it is a plain case, and a thing well known in the neighborhood, and there are witnesses enough to testify it, that it has yesterday, and for two or three days running, pushed with his horns men and cattle.
his owner hath not kept him in - took no care to prevent his doing mischief by putting him into a barn or out house, or into an enclosure, where he could do no damage to any:
he shall surely pay ox for ox - that is, the owner of the miscreant ox shall give as good an ox to the owner of the dead ox as the ox that had been killed or pay him the full worth and value of it. The dead ox shall not be divided as in the preceding case, but shall be the dead ox owner’s wholly; because the owner of the vicious ox took no care of him, though it was well known he was mischievous, for which negligence he was punished this way.
