“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed,
18. And if men strive together. The punishment here enacted for wounds and blows is so slight, that it might have served as a provocative to the mischievousness of the ill-disposed. Since the Law of the Twelve Tables only inflicted a fine of twenty-five asses upon a man who had beaten another unjustly, there was a certain Lucius Veratius, Aul. Gellius. Noct. Attic., 20:1.
God guards life by law as surely as He gives it by providence: mercy to a wilful murderer is cruelty to mankind. The man who kills in malice or passion must die, even if he clings to the altar; but if God ordains a death by accident, not the slayer's intent, He appoints refuge for him.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 21:12-21
And if men strive together,.... Quarrel and fight, and wrestle with and box one another: and one smite another with a stone; which lying near him he might take up, and in his passion throw it at his antagonist: or with his fist; with his double fist, as we express it, with his hand closed, that it might come with the greater force, and give...