21:22
¶ If men strive, and hurt a woman with
child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall
be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he
shall pay as the judges determine. 23
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand,
foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning,
wound for wound, stripe for stripe. 26
And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that
it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. 27 And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth,
or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that
they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten;
but the owner of the ox shall be quit. 29
But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath
been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath
killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be
put to death. 30 If there be laid on him
a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid
upon him. 31 Whether he have gored a
son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto
him. 32 If the ox shall push a
manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of
silver, and the ox shall be stoned. 33
And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not
cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein; 34
The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner
of them; and the dead beast shall be his. 35
And if one man’s ox hurt another’s, that he die; then they shall sell
the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall
divide. 36 Or if it be known that the ox
hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely
pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.
Verse 22 shows that accidentally causing a
miscarriage of a pregnancy that does not also result in the death of the mother
is not punishable by death. It also underscores, under ancient custom, the fact
that women had few rights on their own but that their treatment was an
extension of their husband’s rights. We saw how Dinah’s rape in Genesis was
avenged because of the disgrace it brought on the family, not because it was a
crime against Dinah. The woman had few rights apart from her relationship with
her father or her husband. In a tribal society, the sense of self-identity and
self-worth of many people is swallowed up in the identity and worth of the
group.
Punishment was to be equal among Hebrews
of any rank; an eye for an eye. However, disturbingly, the exception was that
if a servant was injured they must be set free, extended even to knocking out a
tooth. There is nothing here about a servant being treated on an equal footing
with a master.
A domestic animal that killed a person was
to be killed itself. However, if the owner knew the animal was dangerous the
owner is also put to death although he could ransom his way out of the
sentence. It did not matter if the victim was male or female, an equal value
was placed on a woman’s life. If his animal injured another man’s servant he
had to pay restitution.
If an animal fell into a pit a man dug he
had to pay the owner for it if it died. If one man’s animal killed another
man’s animal the living animal must be sold and the money divided between the
two as well as the carcass of the dead animal. But, if he knew the animal was
dangerous he was required to pay for the dead animal.
Laws of responsibility, blame, guilt, and
punishment are controlled vengeance. It would not be hard to imagine this
wandering group of ex-slaves descending into nothing but vendettas and anarchy
without order or any future. God providing standards, modifying existing
customs, and making the Hebrews accountable to His law could provide a stable
base for society.
I’m going to avoid the many sermons that
this passage brings to mind in order not to slow down the narrative but just
think of parallels in the world of the spirit. Do ordinances and commandments for
this world reflect anything that is going on in the spiritual world, do you
ever wonder?
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