The sixth commandment

Exodus 21.28-31

“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”

Parents may not have been responsible for the behavior of their children, but owners of large animals were held accountable for their beasts. Animals were not to be “blamed” when they harm humans; however, they were not to be excused, either. An animal that gored or butted had either to be restrained or, if it could not be restrained, destroyed – and its owner held accountable in the most severe manner.

However, note the hint of grace in this statute: a man whose ox gored another to death could be ransomed from death, presumably, if the survivors of the dead person agreed. There is in this, I think, a kind of foreshadowing concerning how we must today, in this age of grace, regard the harsh penalties of the Law of God. By extending a form of grace to those deserving harsh punishments, we do not excuse them; nor do we simply wink at their offense and thus affront justice. We simply exact punishment and achieve justice in a different way. However, the nature of the transgressor – for example, if such crimes have been habitual or if they persist – frees a society to impose harsher penalties for any subsequent violations of the Law.

This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.