21:28 1 “If an ox 2 gores a man or a woman so that either dies, 3 then the ox must surely 4 be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.
21:33 “If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
21:15 “Whoever strikes 5 his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
1 sn The point that this section of the laws makes is that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling the circumstances.
2 tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.
3 tn Heb “and he dies”; KJV “that they die”; NAB, NASB “to death.”
4 tn The text uses סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל (saqol yissaqel), a Qal infinitive absolute with a Niphal imperfect. The infinitive intensifies the imperfect, which here has an obligatory nuance or is a future of instruction.
5 sn This is the same construction that was used in v. 12, but here there is no mention of the parents’ death. This attack, then, does not lead to their death – if he killed one of them then v. 12 would be the law. S. R. Driver says that the severity of the penalty was in accord with the high view of parents (Exodus, 216).