Exodus 23:4

23:4 “If you encounter ¹  your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return ²  it to him.

Exodus 34:19

34:19 “Every firstborn of the womb ³  belongs to me, even every firstborn ⁴  of your cattle that is a male, ⁵  whether ox or sheep.

Exodus 21:35-36

21:35 If the ox of one man injures the ox of his neighbor so that it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide its proceeds, ⁶  and they will also divide the dead ox. ⁷  21:36 Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely pay ⁸  ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his. ⁹ 

Exodus 15:22

The Bitter Water

15:22 ¹⁰ Then Moses led Israel to journey ¹¹  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ¹²  into the desert, and found no water.

Exodus 21:33

21:33 “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 into it,

Exodus 21:28-29

Laws about Animals

21:28 ¹³ “If an ox ¹⁴  gores a man or a woman so that either dies, ¹⁵  then the ox must surely ¹⁶  be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. 21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, ¹⁷  and he did not take the necessary precautions, ¹⁸  and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.

Exodus 22:1

Laws about Property

22:1 ¹⁹ (21:37) ²⁰  “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back ²¹  five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep. ²² 

Exodus 22:10

22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt ²³  or is carried away ²⁴  without anyone seeing it, ²⁵ 

Exodus 22:9

22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, ²⁶  whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ ²⁷  the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, ²⁸  and the one whom ²⁹  the judges declare guilty ³⁰  must repay double to his neighbor.

[23:4]  ¹ tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[23:4]  ² tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.

[34:19]  ³ tn Heb “everything that opens the womb.”

[34:19]  ⁴ tn Here too: everything that “opens [the womb].”

[34:19]  ⁵ tn The verb basically means “that drops a male.” The verb is feminine, referring to the cattle.

[21:35]  ⁵ tn Literally “its silver” or “silver for it.”

[21:35]  ⁶ tn Heb “divide the dead.” The noun “ox” has been supplied.

[21:36]  ⁷ tn The construction now uses the same Piel imperfect (v. 34) but adds the infinitive absolute to it for emphasis.

[21:36]  ⁸ sn The point of this section (21:28-36) seems to be that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling one’s property and possessions. This section pertained to neglect with animals, but the message would have applied to similar situations. The people of God were to take heed to ensure the well-being of others, and if there was a problem, it had to be made right.

[15:22]  ⁹ sn The first event of the Israelites’ desert experience is a failure, for they murmur against Yahweh and are given a stern warning – and the provision of sweet water. The event teaches that God is able to turn bitter water into sweet water for his people, and he promises to do such things if they obey. He can provide for them in the desert – he did not bring them into the desert to let them die. But there is a deeper level to this story – the healing of the water is incidental to the healing of the people, their lack of trust. The passage is arranged in a neat chiasm, starting with a journey (A), ending with the culmination of the journey (A'); developing to bitter water (B), resolving to sweet water (B'); complaints by the people (C), leading to to the instructions for the people (C'); and the central turning point is the wonder miracle (D).

[15:22]  ¹⁰ tn The verb form is unusual; the normal expression is with the Qal, which expresses that they journeyed. But here the Hiphil is used to underscore that Moses caused them to journey – and he is following God. So the point is that God was leading Israel to the bitter water.

[15:22]  ¹¹ sn The mention that they travelled for three days into the desert is deliberately intended to recall Moses’ demand that they go three days into the wilderness to worship. Here, three days in, they find bitter water and complain – not worship.

[21:28]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.

[21:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he dies”; KJV “that they die”; NAB, NASB “to death.”

[21:28]  ¹⁴ 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.

[21:29]  ¹³ tn The Hophal perfect has the idea of “attested, testified against.”

[21:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he was not keeping it” or perhaps guarding or watching it (referring to the ox).

[22:1]  ¹⁵ sn The next section of laws concerns property rights. These laws protected property from thieves and oppressors, but also set limits to retribution. The message could be: God’s laws demand that the guilty make restitution for their crimes against property and that the innocent be exonerated.

[22:1]  ¹⁶ sn Beginning with 22:1, the verse numbers through 22:31 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:1 ET = 21:37 HT, 22:2 ET = 22:1 HT, etc., through 22:31 ET = 22:30 HT. Thus in the English Bible ch. 22 has 31 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 30 verses, with the one extra verse attached to ch. 21 in the Hebrew Bible.

[22:1]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of obligatory imperfect – he must pay back.

[22:1]  ¹⁸ tn בָּקַר (baqar) and צֹאן (tso’n) are the categories to which the ox and the sheep belonged, so that the criminal had some latitude in paying back animals.

[22:10]  ¹⁷ tn The form is a Niphal participle from the verb “to break” – “is broken,” which means harmed, maimed, or hurt in any way.

[22:10]  ¹⁸ tn This verb is frequently used with the meaning “to take captive.” The idea here then is that raiders or robbers have carried off the animal.

[22:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “there is no one seeing.”

[22:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “concerning every kind [thing] of trespass.”

[22:9]  ²⁰ tn The text simply has “this is it” (הוּא זֶה, hu’ zeh).

[22:9]  ²¹ tn Again, or “God.”

[22:9]  ²² tn This kind of clause Gesenius calls an independent relative clause – it does not depend on a governing substantive but itself expresses a substantival idea (GKC 445-46 §138.e).

[22:9]  ²³ tn The verb means “to be guilty” in Qal; in Hiphil it would have a declarative sense, because a causative sense would not possibly fit.