Leviticus 24:18

Whoever kills an animal must make restitution—life for life.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God delivers this statute to Moses and the Israelite community during the wilderness journey, placing it between laws on homicide and personal injury.

The words — נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) denotes a living being, while תַּחַת (tachet) means in place of or as compensation for.

The thread — This principle of proportional restitution for property loss appears in Leviticus 24:21 and Exodus 21:34.

Why it lands — It establishes a clear legal boundary between the valuation of livestock and the sanctity of human life. The reader must apply exact compensation for property damage while recognizing that human life requires a different judicial standard.

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

וּמַכֵּ֥הu./ma.Kehand/ [one who] strikes down נֶֽפֶשׁ־ne.fesh-[the] life of בְּהֵמָ֖הbe.he.Mahan animal יְשַׁלְּמֶ֑נָּהye.shal.le.Me./nahhe will repay/ it נֶ֖פֶשׁNe.fesha life תַּ֥חַתTa.chatfor נָֽפֶשׁ׃Na.fesha life

King James Version

And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast.

Cross-references

Leviticus 24:21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death.
Exodus 21:34 the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.