Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The passage addresses Israelite community leaders and judges regarding civil liability for livestock, situated between regulations on goring a free person and goring a pit.
The words — עֶבֶד ('E.ved) means a male slave and אָמָה ('a.Mah) a female slave, both categorized here as property rather than persons for the purpose of compensation.
The thread — The thirty shekels of silver valuation recurs in Zechariah 11:12 as prophetic wages, and in Matthew 26:15 and 27:3 as the price paid for Jesus’ betrayal.
Why it lands — The text mandates a fixed monetary penalty for the death of an enslaved person and orders the stoning of the dangerous ox, establishing a strict legal boundary for property damage and animal liability.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 11:12 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 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.
- Matthew 27:3 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.
- Exodus 21:28 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.
- Philippians 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.