Exodus 21:12

Personal Injuries

21:12 ¹ “Whoever strikes someone ²  so that he dies ³  must surely be put to death. ⁴ 

Exodus 21:15

21:15 “Whoever strikes ⁵  his father or his mother must surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:17

21:17 “Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully ⁶  must surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:16

21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone ⁷  and sells him, ⁸  or is caught still holding him, ⁹  must surely be put to death.

Exodus 22:19

22:19 “Whoever has sexual relations ¹⁰  with a beast must surely be put to death.

Exodus 19:12

19:12 You must set boundaries ¹¹  for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed ¹²  to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death!

Exodus 31:15

31:15 Six days ¹³  work may be done, ¹⁴  but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, ¹⁵  holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

Exodus 35:2

35:2 In six days ¹⁶  work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day ¹⁷  for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. ¹⁸  Anyone who does work on it will be put to death.

Exodus 21:29

21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, ¹⁹  and he did not take the necessary precautions, ²⁰  and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.

Exodus 31:14

31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it ²¹  must surely be put to death; indeed, ²²  if anyone does ²³  any ²⁴  work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his ²⁵  people.

[21:12]  ¹ sn The underlying point of this section remains vital today: The people of God must treat all human life as sacred.

[21:12]  ² tn The construction uses a Hiphil participle in construct with the noun for “man” (or person as is understood in a law for the nation): “the one striking [of] a man.” This is a casus pendens (independent nominative absolute); it indicates the condition or action that involves further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).

[21:12]  ³ tn The Hebrew word וָמֵת (vamet) is a Qal perfect with vav consecutive; it means “and he dies” and not “and killed him” (which require another stem). Gesenius notes that this form after a participle is the equivalent of a sentence representing a contingent action (GKC 333 §112.n). The word shows the result of the action in the opening participle. It is therefore a case of murder or manslaughter.

[21:12]  ⁴ sn See A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” JJS 28 (1977): 105-26.

[21:15]  ⁵ sn This is the same construction that was used in v. 12, but here there is no mention of the parents’ death. This attack, then, does not lead to their death – if he killed one of them then v. 12 would be the law. S. R. Driver says that the severity of the penalty was in accord with the high view of parents (Exodus, 216).

[21:17]  ⁹ tn The form is a Piel participle from קָלַל (qalal), meaning in Qal “be light,” in Piel “treat lightly, curse, revile, declare contemptible, treat shamefully.” (See its use in Lev 19:14; Josh 24:9; Judg 9:26-28; 1 Sam 3:13; 17:43; 2 Sam 16:5-13; Prov 30:10-11; Eccl 7:21-22; 10:20.) It is opposite of “honor” (כָּבֵד, kaved; Qal “be heavy”; Piel “honor,” as in 20:12) and of “bless.” This verse then could refer to any act contrary to the commandment to honor the parents. B. Jacob (Exodus, 640) cites parallels in Sumerian where people were severely punished for publicly disowning their parents. “21:15, 17 taken together evoke the picture of parents who, physically and verbally, are forcibly turned out of the house (cf. Prov. 19:26)” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:148).

[21:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “a stealer of a man,” thus “anyone stealing a man.”

[21:16]  ¹⁴ sn The implication is that it would be an Israelite citizen who was kidnapped and sold to a foreign tribe or country (like Joseph). There was always a market for slaves. The crime would be in forcibly taking the individual away from his home and religion and putting him into bondage or death.

[21:16]  ¹⁵ tn Literally “and he is found in his hand” (KJV and ASV both similar), being not yet sold.

[22:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “lies with.”

[19:12]  ²¹ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect (“make borders”) with vav (ו) consecutive, following the sequence of instructions.

[19:12]  ²² tn The Niphal imperative (“guard yourselves, take heed to yourselves”) is followed by two infinitives construct that provide the description of what is to be avoided – going up or touching the mountain.

[31:15]  ²⁵ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time, indicating that work may be done for six days out of the week.

[31:15]  ²⁶ tn The form is a Niphal imperfect; it has the nuance of permission in this sentence, for the sentence is simply saying that the six days are work days – that is when work may be done.

[31:15]  ²⁷ tn The expression is שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton), “a Sabbath of entire rest,” or better, “a sabbath of complete desisting” (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 404). The second noun, the modifying genitive, is an abstract noun. The repetition provides the superlative idea that complete rest is the order of the day.

[35:2]  ²⁹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[35:2]  ³⁰ tn The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”

[35:2]  ³¹ sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.

[21:29]  ³³ tn The Hophal perfect has the idea of “attested, testified against.”

[21:29]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he was not keeping it” or perhaps guarding or watching it (referring to the ox).

[31:14]  ³⁷ tn This clause is all from one word, a Piel plural participle with a third, feminine suffix: מְחַלְלֶיהָ (mÿkhalleha, “defilers of it”). This form serves as the subject of the sentence. The word חָלַל (khalal) is the antonym of קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be holy”). It means “common, profane,” and in the Piel stem “make common, profane” or “defile.” Treating the Sabbath like an ordinary day would profane it, make it common.

[31:14]  ³⁸ tn This is the asseverative use of כִּי (ki) meaning “surely, indeed,” for it restates the point just made (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).

[31:14]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the one who does.”

[31:14]  ⁴⁰ tn “any” has been supplied.

[31:14]  ⁴¹ tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).