Exodus
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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