Exodus 21:12-36 - The Basis of Legal Recourse

Exodus 21:12-36

The Law Concerning Violence

12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

14 “But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

15 “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

16 “He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

17 “And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

18 “If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, 19 if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

20 “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. 21 Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.

22 “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. 27 And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.

Animal Control Laws

28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. 29 But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him. 31 Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. 32 If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

33 “And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.

35 “If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide. 36 Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.

These laws formed the basis of the legal recourses and punishments for various crimes against people and their property.  Many of these laws are still found in our legal systems today around the world to varying degrees.  Murder was to be punished by the authorities, not individuals, by the equivalent retribution of being put to death, unlike Cain (Genesis 4:6, 8) who was allowed to live as a marked man (Genesis 4:11, 14) for his premeditated murder of his righteous brother Abel.  If, however, the man did not plan the killing, he was to be put in a place of refuge from those seeking vengeance until the matter was resolved by a judicial ruling.  This is the basis of manslaughter laws.  Planned murder was to be answered with the death penalty without fail according to this system of law given by the hand of Moses at God’s words of instruction to His people.  It was not a legal system invented by man.  It went further than we now see in that just hitting your parents could earn the death penalty as well.  For violent responses of attempted manslaughter such as hitting a with a rock or punching with a fist in a heated argument, the perpetrator was to pay restitution if the victim was wounded and unable to work for a while, but was to be acquitted and let go free if the victim was able to get back up after the altercation.  This is similar to our laws today with minor variations as well.  One difference is that indentured servants were treated more like property and did not earn the death penalty, only punishment, just as if a man injures a pregnant woman and even give birth prematurely but the child lives.  If the child died or the woman suffered permanent injuries, then the appropriate and equivalent punishment of death would be imposed.  This is the law’s enforcement of an eye for an eye saying we sometimes attempt to use to justify our individual revenge that was not meant here.  Similarly, the laws for those who kill the animals of others, their livelihood and wealth, were to be appropriately punished with restitution for bodily harm or loss of an animal by destruction of the offending animal or monetary compensation.  Accountability was at the core of these laws for both man and beast as the basis of all legal recourse for restitution and to put fear of the death penalty as the most extreme punishment or at least monetary loss to compensate when that was not required.