Bible Strands
Exodus 21:34
the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God delivers this statute to Moses and the Israelite assembly as part of the covenant code. The verse follows immediately after the rule concerning a man who digs an uncovered pit that causes an animal to fall in.
The words — The text employs יְשַׁלֵּם (ye.sha.Lem), meaning "he will make compensation," and כֶּסֶף (ke.sef), meaning "silver." These terms require the pit owner to pay monetary restitution to the animal's owner.
The thread — This compensation structure recurs in Exodus 22:6 for fire damage and Exodus 22:14 for a borrowed animal that dies. Each passage mandates financial repayment when a person's negligence or custody results in another's loss.
Why it lands — The text demands that the pit owner bear the cost of the dead animal after paying the owner's loss. A reader must apply this standard by accepting full financial responsibility for hazards they create or fail to secure.
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
The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.
Cross-references
- Exodus 21:29 But if the ox has a habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be stoned and its owner must also be put to death.
- Exodus 22:6 If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.
- Exodus 22:14 If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution.