Somebody Done Somebody Wrong

Exodus 21: 12-36

The rules continue- these regarding personal injury.

If somebody kills someone on purpose- he's to be removed from the altar and put to death. If it's an accident, there's an out- they flee to a safe zone. The language here is interesting to me- if it's not on purpose "God lets it happen"- implying that man's schemes can trump God. I don't think this is at all the intention of Moses here- but it kind of reads that way. It may just be an accomodating way of expressing chance or fate.

Even if you don't kill them- if you attack your mother or father, you face death.

Kidnapping with or without the end result of human sale? Death.

Cursing your father or mother? Yep, death.

Beat the tar out of someone with a rock? Not death- as long as they live and can walk with a staff- you've got to pay them worker's comp and make sure they get better.

If you beat your slave to death- you are punished (doesn't say killed) - but if after a day or so they're ok, no punishment- after all, they're your property. This one is a little troubling. I think the comment to the last post addresses some of it, but it still feels a little odd.

So let's say you're fighting- and maybe you inadvertantly knock a pregnant woman- and let's say this causes her to give birth prematurely- if there's no serious injury- you pay a fine determined by the mother's husband as long as the court agrees to the amount. Now- if there's serious injury, you return equal harm to the convicted fellow, "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."

If you knock out your servant's tooth or destroy his or her eye- you have to let them go free to make up for it.

Now I know what you're thinking- "What do we do if a bull gores someone to death?" Well, I'm glad you asked. First off you stone the bull and don't eat the meat. But the bullowner is not in trouble. However- if the bull has a reputation for goring- and the owner knows about it and doesn't keep the bull penned up- you kill the bull and the owner. The owner can save himself if he's got enough money to pay whatever is demaded of him (by I guess survivors of the goring). This is the law for the goring of a son or daughter as well (the owner's son or daughter?- maybe you collect the money if your child is gored). However if the bull gores a slave- stone the bull and pay the owner 30 shekels of silver.

Now let's say I'm digging a hole as I'm often want to do- but maybe I forget to cover up that hole- and your animal falls into it and dies- I've got to pay you for the loss- but I get to keep the dead animal.

Finally- if my bull kills your bull, we sell the live bull and split both the proceeds of the live bull and dead bull equally. But- if I know about my bull's goring tendencies, and didn't keep el toro penned up, you get it all.

As I read these laws- I'm still amazed at how little the life of a slave is worth. Curse your parents? Death! Your animal kills a slave? 30 shekels of silver. An interesting component here though is the value placed on the idea of a father. God uses the metaphor for Himself (and as creator, it's more than a metaphor)- but I guess it shows how sacred that bond is, or should be between the creator and createe- in both a biological and spiritual sense.

Why couldn't they eat the meat of the goring bull- was there some aggressiveness in his dna that would damage the eater? I'm always critical of laws that prevent eating- especially eating red meat.

I'm also struck by the randomness of specificity. Do you think there were a lot of pregnant women struck in brawls who gave birth prematurely as a result? Yet there it is, in black and white- there's what you should do! And it seems to me that in that observation lies a lot of the difference between the old law and the new law.

Moses is all about black and white. Thou shalt not. Watch your step. Do it this way. Don't know what to do? We've got a law for everything- even bull goring. Jesus seems to be more about the principle behind the law- a spirit of the law kind of guy. Jesus, what do I do when thus and so happens?

You love them.

So I should pay them how much? So I work for them how long? What's the price? Lay it out for me in black and white?

Jesus doesn't play that game. It didn't work for the Israelites. It created a system that they couldn't live up to. And Jesus's law lightens our load- the uncertainty is often scary- but when the law is grace, the yoke is easy and the burden is light.