Exodus 21:28-32

Exodus 21:28-32

[28] If an ox  gore  a man  or a woman,  that they die:  then the ox  shall be surely  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  [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. 

What does Exodus 21:28-32 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The Hammurabi Code specified the death of the son of the owner of the ox if the ox killed the son of another man ( Exodus 21:31). [1] The Torah required the owner"s life or a ransom ( Exodus 21:30). Note, too, that Exodus 21:31-32 value the lives of male and female slaves the same. The value of an adult slave under the Torah was30 shekels of silver (cf. Matthew 26:15). Under the Code of Hammurabi it was1/3of a mina of silver (about17 shekels). [2] The ox also died by stoning. In this way God taught His people that they should view even slaves as created in His image (cf. Genesis 9:5). The goring ox ( Exodus 21:28-32) is the typical example of death caused by cattle or domestic animals.
"The fate of the ox gives clear evidence of the theological principle of the subordination of the animal world to human sovereignty. That the fatal goring of one ox by another required only compensation shows the relative insignificance of the animal-to-animal relationship ( Exodus 21:35-36)." [3]