Goring Oxen and God's Justice Text: Exodus 21:35-36
Introduction: The World As It Is
We live in a world that is allergic to distinctions. Our generation has been catechized in the mushy religion of egalitarianism, which insists that all outcomes must be equal, regardless of input, intention, or responsibility. This manifests in our modern legal system, which has largely forgotten its purpose. Justice is no longer about making the victim whole, but rather about the state exacting its pound of flesh. The state prosecutes, the state collects the fines, and the state houses the criminal at taxpayer expense. The one who was actually wronged, the victim, is often reduced to a mere witness for the prosecution, a bystander in his own case. This is a profound departure from biblical justice.
When we come to a passage like this one in Exodus, dealing with goring oxen, the modern mind is tempted to dismiss it as archaic, agrarian, and irrelevant. What does this have to do with our world of Teslas and tort law? But this is a failure of imagination and a refusal to see the forest for the trees. God, in giving these case laws, is not just solving bovine disputes in the ancient Near East. He is laying down the permanent principles of all righteous justice. He is teaching us the grammar of a just society.
These laws are intensely practical. They are not abstract theories cooked up in a faculty lounge. They deal with real property, real loss, and real responsibility. And in doing so, they reveal the character of God Himself. He is a God of equity, a God who distinguishes between accident and negligence, a God who cares about making things right in the real world. This is not the God of the philosophers, remote and unconcerned with earthly affairs. This is the God who knows what an ox is worth and what it means for a family to lose one. So, we must not read this as a historical curiosity. We must read it as a lesson in the nature of true justice, a lesson our own age has desperately forgotten.
The Text
"And if one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its price equally; and also they shall divide the dead ox. Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his."
(Exodus 21:35-36 LSB)
Accident and Shared Loss (v. 35)
We begin with the first scenario, a case of unforeseen accident.
"And if one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its price equally; and also they shall divide the dead ox." (Exodus 21:35)
Here we have a situation that, from all appearances, is a simple accident. One ox kills another. There is no indication that the owner of the offending ox had any reason to believe his animal was dangerous. It was just one of those things that happens in a fallen world where we live alongside large, powerful, and sometimes unpredictable animals. This is what insurance companies might call an "act of God," though it is more accurately an act of bovine aggression for which no human is directly culpable.
Now, how does our modern system handle this? Typically, it would be a civil matter, likely dismissed as an unfortunate accident with no liability. The owner of the dead ox would simply be out of luck. He bears the entire loss. But notice the profound wisdom and equity of God's law. The law does not say, "Tough luck." It recognizes that a loss has occurred and provides a mechanism for that loss to be shared justly.
The solution is simple and elegant. The live ox is sold, and the money is split down the middle. The dead ox, which still has value for its hide and meat, is also divided. The result is that both men share the loss equally. The man who lost his ox is not ruined, and the man whose ox did the killing does not get off scot-free. They both walk away with half the value of a living ox and half the value of a dead one. They are in the same economic position. This is restorative justice. It aims to restore the situation to a state of equity. It forces neighbors to bear one another's burdens in a tangible way when tragedy strikes without clear fault.
This presupposes a society built on private property, where such losses matter. And it builds a society of mutual concern. Your neighbor's loss is, in a very real sense, your loss too. This is a far cry from the atomized individualism of our day, where your misfortune is your problem until the state decides to make it everyone's problem through some bloated, inefficient government program.
Negligence and Full Restitution (v. 36)
Now, verse 36 introduces a crucial new piece of information that changes the entire equation.
"Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his." (Exodus 21:36 LSB)
The key variable here is knowledge. The situation is no longer an unfortunate accident; it is a case of criminal negligence. The owner knew his ox was a problem. It had a rap sheet. It was "in the habit of goring." And knowing this, he did nothing. He failed to confine it, to build a stronger fence, to take the necessary precautions to protect his neighbors' property and lives. His inaction, his negligence, makes him fully culpable for the damage his animal caused.
Because his guilt has been established, the remedy changes dramatically. There is no more talk of splitting the difference. The negligent owner must make full restitution. He must "surely pay ox for ox." He must restore his neighbor to the position he was in before the incident. The victim is made whole. The negligent owner then gets to keep the dead animal, which is only fair, as he has just paid the full price for a living replacement. He bears the entirety of the loss, because the loss was entirely his fault.
This introduces the biblical principle of responsibility that flows from knowledge. To whom much is known, much is required. This is not just about oxen; it is about everything. If you know of a danger and do nothing to mitigate it, you are responsible for the consequences. This is the principle behind the law requiring a parapet on the roof of your house (Deut. 22:8). If someone falls off because you were negligent, their blood is on your hands. This is the general equity of the law. We may not have flat roofs where we entertain guests, but we do have icy sidewalks that need shoveling and second-story decks that need railings. The principle remains: you are responsible for the safety of your guests and neighbors.
This distinction between accident and negligence is foundational to all true justice. Our modern world tries to erase this. On the one hand, it wants to hold people accountable for things they could not possibly have known or controlled, based on their group identity. On the other hand, it makes endless excuses for flagrant, willful wrongdoing, blaming society, or poverty, or systemic forces. The Bible cuts through all that fog with a sharp, clear principle: you are responsible for what you know and what you do, or fail to do, with that knowledge.
Justice That Restores
So what do we take from these two verses about goring oxen? We learn that God's justice is not primarily punitive, but restorative. The central question is not "How can the state punish the offender?" but rather "How can the victim be made whole?" This is the principle of restitution, and it is a forgotten duty in the modern church and the modern world.
When a man sins against his neighbor, particularly in matters of property, forgiveness from God does not negate the responsibility to make it right with the man he wronged. Zacchaeus understood this instinctively. When he was converted, his immediate response was, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold" (Luke 19:8). He was ready to go above and beyond what the law required because the grace of God had transformed his heart into a fountain of justice and generosity.
Our penal system does the opposite. It punishes the criminal, often in ways that make him less capable of ever being a productive member of society, and it leaves the victim with nothing but the cold comfort of knowing the offender is in a cage. Biblical justice requires the offender to work to pay back what he has damaged. If he stole, he must restore double, or fourfold, or fivefold (Ex. 22:1-4). If he cannot pay, he is to be sold into indentured servitude until the debt is paid. This is not a brutal system; it is a righteous one. It holds men responsible, it restores the victim, and it provides a path for the offender to work his way back into society.
The principles here are timeless. First, private property is a God-given institution, and He provides laws to protect it. Second, justice requires making careful distinctions based on knowledge and intent. An accident is not the same as negligence. Third, the goal of justice in property crimes is restitution. The victim must be restored.
These are not just good ideas for a Christian society. They are reflections of the gospel. We all, through our sin, have incurred an infinite debt against a holy God. We were negligent with the lives He gave us. And we could never make restitution. We could never pay "ox for ox." But God, in His justice and mercy, provided a substitute. Jesus Christ paid our debt in full. He made the ultimate restitution. And having been recipients of such a great restoration, we ought to be a people who are zealous for true, restorative justice in all our dealings with one another. We must learn to think like God thinks about these things, even when the subject is as earthy as a goring ox.