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Exodus 21 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
God, through His law, established some basic truths that the people were to follow. It’s interesting how things are viewed somewhat differently today. During a less civilized time, and without the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead them, the people needed this direction. Here are some of the overall guiding principles for this chapter…
Life is superior to property. If an ox gored a man to death, it was to be killed and the flesh was not to be eaten. This is interesting considering that if that happened today, it would probably be considered an accident. I doubt in many cases that the animal would be put to death. The idea here was not animal cruelty, but rather, to value human life to the fullest extent.
The careless were accountable. In that same scenario, if the ox that gored a man had a history of doing it and the owner had not restrained the animal, then he was punishable by death as well. We see some accountability today with household pets such as dogs and cats, but the seriousness of this punishment sent a clear message – the careless will be culpable.
The laws may seem strange to us but it was a different culture in a different time period. The prevention of crime and attention to responsibility were paramount during this era. People were to take their duties and responsibilities seriously and with great care because if not, they would be punished.