The Goring Ox and the Modern Mind Text: Exodus 21:28-32
Introduction: The Case Law System
We live in an age that prides itself on its sophistication, but which is, in reality, profoundly simplistic. Our generation wants morality to be a matter of bumper stickers and hashtags. We want justice to be a feeling, a sentiment, an outburst of indignation on social media. But the law of God is not like that. The law of God is granular, specific, and intensely practical. It deals with real-world problems, with stray livestock, with property boundaries, and with personal responsibility. It is a case law system.
What this means is that God does not give us an exhaustive, multi-volume regulatory code that anticipates every conceivable scenario. Rather, He gives us representative cases, and from these cases, wise judges are to extract the underlying principle, what the Westminster Confession calls the "general equity," and apply it to new situations. This is what King Alfred did when he laid the foundations for the common law tradition that we have inherited. He took the laws of God, including passages like this one, and made them the law of the land. This requires wisdom, not just a wooden literalism.
The passage before us, concerning the goring ox, is one such case. It might seem archaic to us. We are more concerned with fender benders than with ill-tempered livestock. But the principles embedded in this law are timeless. They deal with the sanctity of human life, the nature of culpability, the responsibilities of ownership, and the requirements of justice. Our modern world has rejected the God who gave this law, and as a result, we are making a hash of all these things. We devalue human life through abortion while elevating the status of animals. We replace personal responsibility with a culture of victimhood and endless litigation. We confuse sentimental mercy with true justice. This ancient law about a goring ox is a sharp diagnostic tool for the maladies of the modern mind.
We must not come to a text like this with an attitude of chronological snobbery, thinking we have outgrown such primitive notions. We must come to it with humility, recognizing that the God who spoke the universe into existence knows a thing or two more about justice than we do. In these few verses, God lays down foundational principles that are just as relevant in a world of Teslas and Twitter as they were in a world of oxen and olive groves.
The Text
"And if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it puts a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him. Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same judgment. If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned."
(Exodus 21:28-32 LSB)
An Unfortunate Accident (v. 28)
We begin with the first scenario, a tragic but unforeseen event.
"And if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished." (Exodus 21:28)
The first thing to notice is the high value God places on human life. A human being, made in the image of God, has been killed. This is a profound disruption of God's created order. Something must be done. The principle of blood pollution is in effect here, which God established with Noah: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man" (Genesis 9:6). The land itself is defiled by innocent blood, and it must be cleansed.
Therefore, the instrument of death, the ox, must be destroyed. It is to be stoned. This is not because the ox is morally culpable in the way a human is. An animal cannot sin. Rather, this is a powerful, visible object lesson for the entire community. It teaches that human life is so sacred that even the beast that takes it must be forfeit. The life of an animal, valuable as it is, does not compare to the life of an image-bearer.
The flesh of the ox is not to be eaten. This is significant. Normally, the meat of a stoning victim could be consumed. But in this case, the animal is treated as unclean, a carrier of the pollution of death. No one is to derive any benefit from this tragedy. This prevents any callousness from creeping in, where a man might think, "Well, at least we'll have a freezer full of beef." No. The death of a human being is a total loss, and the law makes everyone feel the weight of that loss.
Crucially, in this first case, "the owner of the ox shall go unpunished." Why? Because there is a distinction between a tragic accident and criminal negligence. The law recognizes that not all responsibility carries guilt. The owner is responsible for his animal, but if he had no prior reason to believe the ox was dangerous, he is not guilty of the man's death. This is a fundamental principle of justice that our own legal system has often forgotten. We live in an age that wants to find someone to blame, someone to sue, for every misfortune. But biblical law makes a distinction between calamity and crime.
Criminal Negligence (v. 29)
The second scenario is quite different. Here, the owner's culpability is established.
"If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it puts a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death." (Exodus 21:29)
Here we see the principle of personal responsibility in sharp relief. The situation has changed because of two key factors: prior knowledge and subsequent inaction. The ox was "in the habit of goring," and the owner "has been warned." He knew the danger. He knew he possessed a lethal weapon. His failure to confine the animal was not an oversight; it was a reckless disregard for the lives of his neighbors. He valued his convenience, or perhaps the utility of the ox, more than the safety of the people around him.
Therefore, when the inevitable happens and someone is killed, the owner is treated as a murderer. The law is stark: "its owner also shall be put to death." This is not an accident; it is negligent homicide. The owner's sin of omission, his failure to act when he had a duty to act, makes him guilty of the blood that was shed. He might as well have held the horns himself.
This principle has broad application. Think of the man who knows his brakes are bad and doesn't fix them. Think of the pharmaceutical company that knows its product has deadly side effects and hides the data. Think of the pastor who knows a man in his congregation is a predator and does nothing to restrain him or warn the flock. This is the goring ox principle. Knowledge creates responsibility, and a failure to act on that knowledge in a way that protects the innocent incurs bloodguilt.
The Possibility of Ransom (v. 30)
Next, the law provides for a merciful alternative to the death penalty in this specific case of negligence.
"If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him." (Exodus 21:30)
This is a fascinating provision. The owner is liable to the death penalty, but the family of the victim, the "avenger of blood," has the option of demanding a ransom instead. This is not the case for premeditated murder (Numbers 35:31 says, "you shall not take a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death"). Because this was a crime of negligence rather than malice, a monetary payment, a "ransom," can be substituted for the life of the owner.
This does two things. First, it provides a way for the guilty man to live, acknowledging that his crime, while serious, was not one of direct, intentional violence. Second, it provides for the family of the victim. The ransom would have been a substantial sum, "whatever is demanded of him," likely determined by the judges to be fair. This payment serves as restitution to the family who has lost a breadwinner and a loved one. Justice here is not merely punitive; it is also restorative.
This concept of ransom, of redemption through a substitutionary payment, is a thread that runs through the entire Bible. It points us ultimately to the Lord Jesus Christ. We, through our sin and negligence, stand condemned. We have disregarded the warnings of God. The penalty is death. But God, in His mercy, has provided a ransom. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). The price was not silver or gold, but the precious blood of Christ. He paid the price to redeem us from the sentence of death we justly deserved.
Equal Justice and the Value of Slaves (v. 31-32)
The final verses extend the principle and apply it to different classes of people, demonstrating God's impartial justice.
"Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same judgment. If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned." (Exodus 21:31-32)
Verse 31 makes it clear that the law applies equally regardless of the age or sex of the victim. A "son or a daughter" is valued just as highly as a grown man or woman. This stands in stark contrast to many pagan law codes, where the penalty often depended on the social status of the victim. In God's economy, the life of a child is precious and must be protected with the same legal force as the life of an adult.
Verse 32 then addresses the case of a slave. This is a crucial verse for understanding the biblical view of what is often called slavery. The first thing to note is that the life of the slave is protected. The goring ox is still stoned. The image of God in the slave, however marred by his social condition, is still recognized. The fundamental wrong of taking a human life is still punished.
The penalty for the negligent owner, however, is different. Instead of being subject to the death penalty or an open-ended ransom, a fixed price of thirty shekels of silver is to be paid to the slave's master. This was a significant amount of money, the standard price for a slave. It functions as restitution for the master's economic loss. But why not the death penalty for the owner? Because the Hebrew "slavery" was a form of indentured servitude, a system of debt and labor, not the chattel slavery of the American South. The slave was still a person with legal standing, but his labor was owned by another. The thirty shekels is a recognition of the economic component of the relationship.
And we cannot read about this price, thirty shekels of silver, without our minds being drawn forward to the New Testament. This is the exact price that Judas Iscariot was paid to betray the Lord of glory (Matthew 26:15). In an act of ultimate cosmic irony, the religious leaders of Israel valued the life of the incarnate Son of God at the price of a gored slave. This was their assessment of His worth. But in the economy of God, that payment, offered for the slave-price of the Master, became the ransom for the souls of all who would believe.
Conclusion: Responsibility in God's World
This case law about a goring ox is not a dusty relic. It is a revelation of the character of God and the nature of His justice. It teaches us that human life is sacred, because we are made in God's image. It teaches us to distinguish between misfortune and malice, between accident and negligence.
Most importantly, it teaches us that we are responsible creatures. We are responsible for what we own, for what we know, and for what we do, or fail to do. We cannot plead ignorance when God has warned us. We cannot claim to be victims of circumstance when we have been reckless with the lives of others. Our culture wants to dissolve responsibility into a soupy mess of societal forces and psychological excuses. But God holds us to account.
The standard is high, and we have all failed. We have all been negligent owners. We have all allowed the "ox" of our sinful nature to run loose, and it has done untold damage to others and to our relationship with God. We stand guilty, liable to the death penalty. Our only hope is that the family of the victim, God the Father, has agreed to accept a ransom.
And He has not just accepted it; He has provided it. He sent His only Son to be valued at thirty shekels of silver, to be treated as a slave, and to be put to death in our place. He paid the redemption price for our lives. The proper response to this law is not to congratulate ourselves on our modern sensibilities, but to flee to the cross, confessing our guilt and our negligence, and to cling to the one who became the ransom for many.