The Price of a Punch: Restitution and Responsibility Text: Exodus 21:18-19
Introduction: Justice That Restores
We live in an age that is utterly confused about justice. On the one hand, we have a sentimental, therapeutic culture that wants to excuse every crime and coddle every criminal. Justice is seen as oppressive, and consequences are considered a form of societal meanness. On the other hand, we have a cold, bureaucratic state that punishes crime through impersonal fines paid to the government or by warehousing men in cages where they become worse than they were before. In both instances, the victim is almost entirely forgotten. The therapeutic approach ignores the victim's injury, and the statist approach makes the government the victim, stealing the place of the one who was actually harmed.
The modern world oscillates between these two poles of foolishness because it has rejected the source of true justice, which is the law of God. When God gave His law to Israel, He was not simply providing a list of arbitrary rules. He was revealing His character. He was laying down the foundational principles for a just, sane, and healthy society. And at the heart of biblical justice is not primarily retribution, but restitution. The goal is not simply to punish the offender, but to make the victim whole.
This is a radical concept in our day. Our secular systems think in terms of a criminal paying his "debt to society." The Bible thinks in terms of a man paying his debt to the neighbor he has wronged. This is not to say there is no place for punishment, of course there is. But the emphasis, particularly in these case laws in Exodus, is on repairing the damage that was done. This is a justice that restores, a justice that heals, a justice that puts things right in the real world between real people.
The passage before us today is a piece of what we call "case law." God gives the broad moral principle in the Ten Commandments, "You shall not murder," and then He provides specific case studies to show how that principle applies in the messy details of everyday life. This is not a contradiction; it is a clarification. God is a practical God, and He gives us a law that works for real people in a real, fallen world. What do you do when a fight breaks out? What is the difference between a fatal blow and an injury? Who is responsible for what? God, in His wisdom, gives us the answers. And in these answers, we find a deep sanity that our own age has tragically lost.
The Text
"And if men contend with each other and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but remains in bed, if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and he shall take care of him until he is completely healed."
(Exodus 21:18-19 LSB)
A Fight and Its Consequences (v. 18)
The scenario begins with a common feature of a fallen world: conflict.
"And if men contend with each other and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but remains in bed..." (Exodus 21:18)
The law here presupposes a world where men get into arguments. The Hebrew for "contend" has the sense of a quarrel or a dispute. This is not a premeditated ambush; it is a fight that has escalated. Notice the weapons involved: a stone or a fist. These are not the weapons of a soldier going to war, but the impromptu instruments of a heated argument. The law is practical; it deals with the kind of trouble that ordinary people get into.
The key distinction made immediately is whether the blow is fatal. "He does not die." If the man had died, other laws concerning murder or manslaughter would apply, with far graver penalties. But here, the result is injury, not death. The man is injured severely enough that he is bedridden. This is not a minor scrape. He is incapacitated, unable to work, unable to function as he normally would. His life has been seriously disrupted by the blow he received.
This verse establishes the central facts of the case. There was a fight, a blow was struck, and a significant, but not fatal, injury resulted. The law does not concern itself here with who started the argument or who was verbally in the wrong. It deals with the objective, physical outcome. One man struck another, and that man was injured. This is where the legal responsibility begins.
The Proof of Recovery and the Limits of Punishment (v. 19a)
Verse 19 provides the conditions for judging the case and assigning the penalty.
"if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished..." (Exodus 21:19a)
This clause is crucial. It provides the evidence that the injury was not, in fact, a mortal wound. The man's recovery is demonstrated by two public actions: he "gets up" and he "walks around outside on his staff." He is not just stirring in his bed; he is ambulatory. He is not just walking in his house; he is seen "outside." The staff indicates he is not fully recovered, but he is on the mend. His life has been spared.
Because the victim has recovered to this extent, the assailant "shall go unpunished." Now, we must read this carefully. This does not mean he gets off scot-free. In the context of the surrounding laws, "unpunished" here means he will not face capital punishment or retributive bodily harm (an eye for an eye). The state will not exact punitive damages from him. Why? Because the principle of biblical justice is not primarily about vengeance. The injury did not result in death, so the penalty will not be death. The punishment must fit the crime, and in this case, the crime was not murder.
This is a direct repudiation of blood feuds and cycles of vengeance that characterized the pagan world. Justice is taken out of the hands of personal vendetta and placed under the authority of law. The penalty is limited and defined. There is no room for disproportionate revenge. The fact that the victim is up and walking about proves that the assault does not fall into the category of a capital crime.
The Restitutional Remedy (v. 19b)
The second half of the verse lays out the financial responsibilities of the man who struck the blow. He may be free from punitive sanction, but he is not free from his obligation to the man he injured.
"...he shall only pay for his loss of time, and he shall take care of him until he is completely healed." (Exodus 21:19b)
Here we see the heart of biblical, restitutional justice. The offender must address two specific economic damages he caused. First, he must "pay for his loss of time." The Hebrew literally means "his sitting" or "his ceasing." This refers to the man's inability to work. He was bedridden, and now he is only able to walk with a staff. He cannot plow his field, tend his flock, or run his business. He has lost income. The man who caused this loss through his violence is required to compensate him for it. He must make up the lost wages. This is simple, direct, economic justice.
Second, he must "take care of him until he is completely healed." The Hebrew is emphatic: "he shall cause him to be thoroughly healed." This means paying for all medical expenses. Whatever salves, bandages, or priestly care was required, the offender is on the hook for it. He cannot just pay for the lost time and then walk away, leaving the man to deal with the lingering effects of the injury. His responsibility extends until the victim is made whole, until he is fully restored to his prior condition.
Think about the sanity of this. The penalty is not a fine paid to the court or the king. The money goes directly to the victim to repair the specific harm that was done. The offender is forced to confront the real-world consequences of his actions in a tangible way. He doesn't just write a check to an abstract entity called "the state." He restores his neighbor. This system promotes personal responsibility, it makes the victim whole, and it discourages future violence by making it economically costly. It is a justice that actually fixes things.
Gospel Application
Like all Old Testament law, this passage ultimately points us to Christ and the gospel. We must see ourselves in this story, not just as the victim or the offender, but as both.
In our sin, we have struck a blow against the infinite holiness of God. We have contended with our Maker. And the result was not a temporary injury, but a mortal wound. The wages of our sin is death. We were not just left bedridden; we were left dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). There was no recovery possible on our own. We could not get up and walk outside, even with a staff. The case against us was capital.
But God, in His mercy, did not deal with us according to the strict demands of retributive justice. He provided a substitute. Jesus Christ stepped into the courtroom and took the capital punishment that we deserved. He took the fatal blow on the cross. He paid the ultimate price.
But the gospel is not just about avoiding punishment. It is also about restoration. Christ's work did not stop at paying our legal debt. He also provides for our complete healing. Through His Spirit, He comes to us in our brokenness and begins the work of making us whole. He pays for our "loss of time," restoring the years the locusts have eaten. And He commits to our healing, promising that He who began a good work in us will see it through to completion (Philippians 1:6). He is taking care of us "until we are completely healed," which will be on that final day when we are presented blameless before the Father, with no lingering limp or need for a staff.
Therefore, as those who have received such a great salvation, we are called to live out this same principle of restitutional grace. When we wrong others, we should be the first to seek to make it right. We should not be content to simply say "I'm sorry." We should ask, "What did my sin cost you? How can I repair the damage?" Whether it is a financial loss, a damaged reputation, or a broken relationship, we must be eager to pay for the loss of time and to minister to the hurt until it is healed. This is how a people rescued by the grace of God are to live. We are to be restorers of the breach, for our God is a God who makes all things new.