Discovery BoxExodus 21:31-32 
Context21:31 If the ox 1 gores a son or a daughter, the owner 2 will be dealt with according to this rule. 3 21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner 4 must pay thirty shekels of silver, 5 and the ox must be stoned. 6
Exodus 21:28
Context21:28 7 “If an ox 8 gores a man or a woman so that either dies, 9 then the ox must surely 10 be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.
1 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “according to this judgment it shall be done to him.”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 sn A shekel was a unit for measure by means of a scale. Both the weight and the value of a shekel of silver are hard to determine. “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181). Over four hundred years earlier, Joseph was sold into Egypt for 20 shekels. The free Israelite citizen was worth about 50 shekels (Lev 27:3f.).
6 sn See further B. S. Jackson, “The Goring Ox Again [Ex. 21,28-36],” JJP 18 (1974): 55-94.
7 sn The point that this section of the laws makes is that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling the circumstances.
8 tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.
9 tn Heb “and he dies”; KJV “that they die”; NAB, NASB “to death.”
10 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.
