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Exodus 21:34
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32 If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master athirty shekels of silver, and the box shall be stoned.  
33 “And 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 in it,
34 the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.
35 “If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide.
36 Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
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<< Exodus 21:33   Exodus 21:35 >>

What Does Exodus 21:34 Mean?



Exodus 21:33-34

As Creator, God knows that the intelligence level of these beasts is not so high that they can avoid pitfalls beyond what He has "programmed" into their instinct. This law, then, pressures men to take precautions around animals for their sake.

The same principle is true for plants: "If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fires shall surely make restitution" (Exodus 22:6). Obviously, these laws have economic and criminal implications, but the ecological benefits are clear. They forestall people from taking a careless approach to their living environment, and their principles apply to all sorts of ecological abuses.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Bible and the Environment


 
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