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Exodus 21:28

in Exodus 21

If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And if an ox gore a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be surely stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

KJV

If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

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This verse in Exodus 21

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

If an ox gore a man - It is more likely that a bull is here intended, as the word signifies both, see Exo 22:1; and the Septuagint translate the שור shor of the original by ταυρος, a bull. Mischief of this kind was provided against by most nations. It appears that the Romans twisted hay about the horns of their dangerous cattle, that people seeing it might shun them; hence that saying of Horace. Sat., lib. i., sat.

This site's exposition

If an ox gore a man or a woman

on Exodus 21:28-29

The goring ox is stoned and its flesh may not be eaten, so the animal is put under a bloodguilt rather than slaughtered for meat. Genesis 9:5 had already said that at the hand of every beast the LORD would require the life of man. Verse 29 turns on notice, since an owner who was told his ox was wont to push with his horn and did not keep him in is put to death alongside the animal.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); and, because the greatest honour of the inferior creatures is to be serviceable to man, the criminal is denied that honour: his flesh shall not be eaten. Thus God would keep up in the minds of his people a rooted abhorrence of the sin of murder and every thing that was barbarous.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die--For the purpose of sanctifying human blood, and representing all injuries affecting life in a serious light, an animal that occasioned death was to be killed or suffer punishment proportioned to the degree of damage it had caused.
The animal was slain as a tribute to the sanctity of human life (Compare the marginal references and Gen 4:11). It was stoned, and its flesh was treated as carrion. Guilty negligence on the part of its owner was reckoned a capital offence, to be commuted for a fine. In the case of a slave, the payment was the standard price of a slave, thirty shekels of silver. See Lev 25:44-46; Lev 27:3, and the marginal references for the New Testament application of this fact.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְכִֽי־and if

    vekhi-H3588 →4482 times

  • יִגַּ֨חit will gore

    yigachH5055 →11 times

  • שׁ֥וֹרan ox

    shorH7794 →79 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אִ֛ישׁa man

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • א֥וֹor

    ʾoH176 →321 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אִשָּׁ֖הa woman

    ʾishahH802 →781 times

  • וָמֵ֑תand he will die

    vametH4191 →839 times

  • סָק֨וֹלcertainly <to stone>

    sakolH5619 →22 times

  • יִסָּקֵ֜לit will be stoned to death

    yisakelH5619 →22 times

  • הַשּׁ֗וֹרthe ox

    hashorH7794 →79 times

  • וְלֹ֤אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יֵאָכֵל֙it will be eaten

    yeakhelH398 →810 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • בְּשָׂר֔וֹmeat its

    besaroH1320 →270 times

  • וּבַ֥עַלand [the] owner of

    uvaalH1167 →84 times

  • הַשּׁ֖וֹרthe ox

    hashorH7794 →79 times

  • נָקִֽי׃[will be] free from guilt

    nakiH5355 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 21:32If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned.4 worksLeviticus 20:15–16If a man lies carnally with an animal, he must be put to death. And you are also to kill the animal.2 worksGenesis 9:5–6And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:2 worksDeuteronomy 17:8If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.2 worksLeviticus 20:16If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.1 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Exodus 21:32

    If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 26:15

      and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.

    • Zechariah 11:12–13

      Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.

    • Matthew 27:3–9

      When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.

    • Genesis 37:28

      So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

    • Philippians 2:7

      but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Exodus

The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 21 →