{"id":19905,"date":"2022-01-19T22:00:09","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T05:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/exodus-21_12-25-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-01-19T23:28:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T06:28:16","slug":"exodus-21_26-36","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/exodus-21_26-36\/","title":{"rendered":"The Raging Bull"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exodus 21:26-36 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Exodus 21:26-36.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Exodus 21:26-36 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0However, if payment is demanded of him, he may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter.
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned.
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“If a man’s bull injures the bull of another and it dies, they are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally.
\n36\u00a0<\/sup> However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and the dead animal will be his.<\/em><\/p>\n

Verses 28 \u2013 32 concerns various scenarios involving an ox. First,\u00a0If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished<\/em>. Here was a situation where an animal (specifically an\u00a0ox<\/em>) kills (gores<\/em>) a person (man or woman<\/em>). As judgment, only the\u00a0ox<\/em>\u00a0is killed, but the owner is not punished. The owner is not considered liable for the deed of his animal. However, once the animal is proven to be dangerous to human life, that animal must be killed, in order to prevent additional damage to humans.<\/p>\n

The second\u00a0ox<\/em>\u00a0scenario is a variation of the first. It involved an ox that was known to be potentially violent. Here, it was\u00a0known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring<\/em>. On top of that,\u00a0its owner has been warned<\/em>. But in spite of it, the owner\u00a0does not confine it<\/em>, resulting in the killing of\u00a0a man or a woman<\/em>. This situation describes what is currently called negligence<\/p>\n

The punishment in this case was that both\u00a0the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death<\/em>. The owner deserves death because he knew the danger and did nothing to prevent it. But v. 30 states that\u00a0if a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him<\/em>. That is, the owner can pay a \u201cransom\u201d to redeem himself and avoid the death penalty. This provides immense negotiating leverage on the part of the aggrieved to gain compensation, for if the parties cannot come to agreement, the owner of the ox\u00a0shall be stoned\u00a0<\/em>by the community. Presumably the community would have some insight into the reasonableness of the parties, but clearly the owner of the offending ox is expected to pay.<\/p>\n

The same guideline applied\u00a0whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule<\/em>. Sons and daughters were no less valued than adults, so the same rule applied to them. Next,\u00a0if the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his\u00a0<\/em>or her\u00a0<\/em>master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned<\/em>. The servant\u2019s labor is valuable, so the ox\u2019s owner must compensate the injured servant\u2019s master for his economic loss. In the case of a servant, the economic loss was fixed. In the case of a family member it had to be negotiated, and if the ox owner was unreasonable, he was to be put to death.<\/p>\n

The passage moves on to another circumstance, where\u00a0a man opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it<\/em>. A person could dig a pit for his own purposes, but he had an obligation to protect people and animals from injury by falling into the pit. Here, the discussion is limited to\u00a0an ox or a donkey<\/em>, both of which are considered valuable because they are work animals and their loss would be economically detrimental to their owner. If an animal is injured or killed,\u00a0the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead\u00a0<\/em>animal\u00a0<\/em>shall become his<\/em>. In other words, the pit owner needed to pay the animal\u2019s owner money to compensate for the loss of the animal. The dead animal became the property of the pit owner as well.<\/p>\n

The last case in this group involves one animal injuring another animal owned by someone else. The rule was to be that\u00a0if one man\u2019s ox hurts another\u2019s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its price equally; and also they shall divide the dead\u00a0<\/em>ox<\/em>. If two animals fought and one died as a result, then the\u00a0live ox<\/em>\u00a0should be sold and the money divided\u00a0equally<\/em>\u00a0between the owners. They should also divide the\u00a0dead ox<\/em>\u00a0equally in order to provide food for both owners. The exception to this rule is\u00a0if<\/em>\u00a0it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead\u00a0<\/em>animal<\/em>\u00a0shall become his<\/em>. This exception, like the previous ones, involve neglect. One must control animals that are known to be dangerous.<\/p>\n

This last group of statutes dealing with negligence was given to teach the Israelites that they had an obligation to consider the safety of others by removing or controlling known hazards.<\/p>\n

The LORD is the giver of life (Genesis 2:7<\/a>), and He wants His covenant people to be responsible for providing a safe environment for others. By doing what is right, the Israelites would remain loyal and faithful to their holy Suzerain (Ruler) God. If Israel would be self-governing, and treat others as they would be treated, then they would rightly be called a \u201ckingdom of priests,\u201d \u201ca holy nation,\u201d and God\u2019s \u201cown possession.\u201d (Exodus 19:4-6<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Exodus 21:28-36<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n