Exodus 20:13 laid down God’s edict concerning murder: “Thou shalt not kill.” The very next chapter began an exposition of murder that can be traced throughout the books of Moses. Exodus 21:12 and later passages differentiate between murder and manslaughter and stipulate the proper responses to each. Exodus 21:22-25 considers the angle of violence towards pregnant women and their pre-born babies.
1. An ox gores a man
An ox is a powerful domestic animal with sharp horns, and perhaps that is why it is featured in such a scenario. An ox that killed a person was to be killed, but its carcass was not eaten. Such a “waste” of good meat would demonstrate the incalculable value of the human life lost. No one would gain even a full stomach by the death of an innocent person.The animal’s past behavior would be considered in order to determine any culpability on the owner’s part. If the ox had previously “tended to thrust with its horns” and the owner had failed to confine it, both he and the ox would die by stoning.
Since the owner had not premeditated the victim’s death, his life could be ransomed (see Numbers 35:21-32). The victim's family could agree to accept the payment of a fine deemed fair in the judgment of priests, village elders, or judges in exchange for the owner’s life. The same penalty would be rendered whether the victim was male or female, slave or free. The fine for the loss of a slave was set at 30 shekels of silver.
2. An ox or donkey dies by human negligence
When a valuable domestic dies as a result of falling into an unprotected pit, the person who dug the pit is liable to replace it. He does not lose his life or freedom, but merely compensates the dead animal’s owner. Unlike the previous scenario, he can keep and eat the carcass.
Thus we see that, in the biblical economy, the loss of animal life is not equal to the loss of human life. A similar process is carried out in the next scenario.
3. One man’s ox gores the ox of another man
In the case of one animal killing another person, the loss is shared. The rogue ox would be sold and its proceeds split between the owners; the carcass of the dead animal would also be split. But, if the owner of the aggressive animal had known about the danger and done nothing to keep it penned, he would lose his share of the bargain. It should go without saying it that human beings can own nonhuman living creatures.
Human life and animal life are distinct
These rules are rooted in Genesis 9:2-6, where it becomes clear that killing an animal is not murder. This passage gave mankind the right to kill and eat animals. As long as the animal’s blood is drained from the flesh, people can kill and eat any animal with impunity (unless they belong to someone else).
The same is not true in reverse. Of animals killing men Genesis 9:5 said, “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it.” Even today, when the killer is a wild beast, many cultures around the world hunt down and kill the animal.
Men who kill another man’s animal are only accountable to the owner, and then only to make fair restitution. (See Ex. 22:1.) Human life is never to be demanded in exchange for an animal's life.
Leviticus 24:17-21 repeats the principle:
If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death. The one who takes the life of an animal shall make it good, life for life. If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him. Thus the one who kills an animal shall make it good, but the one who kills a man shall be put to death.
Animals are not equal to men or more valuable than mankind. As they were created to do, human beings still rule over fish, birds, and every other living thing on Earth (Gen. 1:28).
The sanctity of pet life?
People love their pets, but treating them as though they have the same value as human beings goes against the grain of biblical teaching. Our culture promotes ideas that run counter to God’s word: that humans are just a higher form of animal, that our concern for animals should rival or supersede the preservation of human life.
These ideas are not new. Recall how King David was more enraged by the story of the unjust killing of a cherished pet than he was by the death of a faithful soldier (2 Samuel 11-12). His thinking had been skewed by his own guilty conscience.
Another episode in Israel’s history illustrates how love for animals and respect for human life can be crassly distorted (1 Kings 18:1-16). During a three-year famine brought on by their own idolatry, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel fed their prized animals (and 950 false prophets of Baal) while hunting down and killing every last prophet of God. How skewed is that?
In the account, Ahab had charged his servant Obadiah with scouring the land for any remaining springs of water and plots of grass to feed his starving horses, mules, and cattle. The king didn’t know that Obadiah had been hiding 100 prophets of God in caves and giving them food from the king’s own table! This faithful man risked his own life for the lives of others because he “feared the Lord greatly” and had his priorities in order.
God’s word does concern itself with the well-being of animals, but not at the expense of human beings. God Himself cares for birds and notes when one of them falls to the ground (Mt 6:26, 10:29; Luke 12:6-7), but Jesus reserved harsh rebukes for people who tended to animals while neglecting the needs of people, especially the sick and disabled (Mt 12:9-13, Mark 3:1-6, Lk 13:10-17). God created animals and called them good, but in His eyes human beings are much more valuable.
Conclusion: A great many animals, including oxen, have been sacrificed in service to God. We recall that, although God had Noah go to great lengths to save from the flood a pair of every bird, animal, and creeping thing, immediately after the flood He was pleased to receive Noah’s sacrifice of clean animals and birds (Gen. 8:20-21). God authorized animal sacrifice, but never human sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2-5, Jeremiah 19:5).
Next: The biblical pro-life ethic and slavery
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Image credit: The Devonshire Ox by James Ward, 1801 (public domain).
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