Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
Moses extends this law to mean the father himself bears the penalty if his own son or daughter dies by his ox's goring, for he failed to guard his children. A man already crushed by such loss might face death himself, yet the law stands as a salutary warning: parents must answer for their negligence.
AI summary
The law shields pregnant women with tender care, the tree and fruit must not be destroyed together. God's providence protects those who fear Him in child-bearing. Yet mark this: the lex talionis belongs to magistrates and God's hand in providence, never to private revenge, which would make men like fishes of the sea, devouring one another.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 21:22-36
The law covers children as well as adults, Israelites and foreigners alike; every life carries equal weight. The owner pays with death if warned three days prior and did nothing, or ransoms his life by the court's judgment with the family's consent.
AI summary