Exodus 21:31-32

21:31 If the ox ¹  gores a son or a daughter, the owner ²  will be dealt with according to this rule. ³  21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner ⁴  must pay thirty shekels of silver, ⁵  and the ox must be stoned. ⁶ 

Exodus 21:28

Laws about Animals

21:28 ⁷ “If an ox ⁸  gores a man or a woman so that either dies, ⁹  then the ox must surely ¹⁰  be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.

[21:31]  ¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:31]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:31]  ³ tn Heb “according to this judgment it shall be done to him.”

[21:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:32]  ⁵ sn A shekel was a unit for measure by means of a scale. Both the weight and the value of a shekel of silver are hard to determine. “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181). Over four hundred years earlier, Joseph was sold into Egypt for 20 shekels. The free Israelite citizen was worth about 50 shekels (Lev 27:3f.).

[21:32]  ⁶ sn See further B. S. Jackson, “The Goring Ox Again [Ex. 21,28-36],” JJP 18 (1974): 55-94.

[21:28]  ⁷ sn The point that this section of the laws makes is that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling the circumstances.

[21:28]  ⁸ tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.

[21:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he dies”; KJV “that they die”; NAB, NASB “to death.”

[21:28]  ¹⁰ tn The text uses סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל (saqol yissaqel), a Qal infinitive absolute with a Niphal imperfect. The infinitive intensifies the imperfect, which here has an obligatory nuance or is a future of instruction.