Exodus 21:30
in Exodus 21If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If there be laid on him a ransom, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
KJV
If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
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This verse in Exodus 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
If there be laid on him a sum of money, &c.--Blood fines are common among the Arabs as they were once general throughout the East. This is the only case where a money compensation, instead of capital punishment, was expressly allowed in the Mosaic law.
This site's exposition
the ransom of his life
on Exodus 21:30-31
The sentence on the negligent owner can be commuted for a sum of money, and the verse calls what he pays the ransom of his life. This is the one capital sentence in the chapter that may be bought off, and the offer is not extended to the man who kills with guile at verse 14 or to the manstealer at verse 16. Verse 31 carries the same judgment over to a gored son or daughter, so a child is reckoned at the rate of a grown man.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
If there be laid on him a sum of money,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
If there be laid on him a sum of money - the ransom of his life - So it appears that, though by the law he forfeited his life, yet this might be commuted for a pecuniary mulct, at which the life of the deceased might be valued by the magistrates.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| כֹּ֖פֶר | kofer | a ransom | H3724 → | |
| יוּשַׁ֣ת | yushat | it will be imposed | H7896 → | 83 times |
| עָלָ֑יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְנָתַן֙ | venatan | and he will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| פִּדְיֹ֣ן | pidyon | [the] ransom of | H6306 → | |
| נַפְשׁ֔וֹ | nafsho | life his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| כְּכֹ֥ל | kekhol | according to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יוּשַׁ֖ת | yushat | it will be imposed | H7896 → | 83 times |
| עָלָֽיו׃ | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
כֹּ֖פֶרa ransom
koferH3724 →
יוּשַׁ֣תit will be imposed
yushatH7896 →83 times
עָלָ֑יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
וְנָתַן֙and he will give
venatanH5414 →2011 times
פִּדְיֹ֣ן[the] ransom of
pidyonH6306 →
נַפְשׁ֔וֹlife his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
כְּכֹ֥לaccording to all
kekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יוּשַׁ֖תit will be imposed
yushatH7896 →83 times
עָלָֽיו׃on him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Proverbs 13:8Riches may ransom a man’s life, but a poor man hears no threat.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:18–19
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Psalms 49:6–10
They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
- 1 Peter 1:18–19
Through
Exodus 30:12“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when…
it leads to
- Numbers 31:50
So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”
- Exodus 38:25–26
The silver from those numbered among the congregation totaled 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel—
- 1 Chronicles 27:24
Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. For because of this census wrath came upon Israel, and the number was not entered in the Book of the Chronicles…
- Matthew 20:28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- Numbers 31:50
Through
Exodus 21:22If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 22:18–19
Then the elders of that city shall take the man and punish him.
- Deuteronomy 22:18–19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).