God’s Word Translation
Exodus 21:30
30However, if only a cash settlement is demanded from the owner, the bull’s owner may save his life by paying whatever price is demanded of him.
Exodus 21:30 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
- New International Version (NIV)However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded.
- English Standard Version (ESV)If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him.
- New King James Version (NKJV)If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him.
Context of Exodus 21:30
28“Whenever a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat may not be eaten. The bull’s owner is free from any liability. 29But if the bull has had the habit of goring, and the owner has been warned but has not kept it confined, and it kills a man or a woman, then the bull must be stoned and its owner must be put to death, too. However, if only a cash settlement is demanded from the owner, the bull’s owner may save his life by paying whatever price is demanded of him. 31If the bull gores someone’s son or daughter, this same ruling applies. 32If the bull gores a male or female slave, its owner must pay 12 ounces of silver to the slave’s master, and the bull must be stoned.
Read all of Exodus 21Exodus 21:30 word by word
אִם־כֹּ֖פֶר יוּשַׁ֣ת עָלָ֑יו וְנָתַן֙ פִּדְיֹ֣ן נַפְשׁ֔וֹ כְּכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־יוּשַׁ֖ת עָלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 21:30
- Exodus 21:22“This is what you must do whenever men fight and injure a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely. If there are no other injuries, the offender must pay whatever fine the court allows the woman’s husband to demand.
- Exodus 30:12“When you take a census of the Israelites, each person must pay the Lord a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will happen to them when they are counted.
- Numbers 35:31“Never accept a cash payment in exchange for the life of a convicted murderer who has been given the death penalty. Murderers must be put to death.
- Proverbs 13:8A person’s riches are the ransom for his life, but the poor person does not pay attention to threats.
Commentaries on Exodus 21:30
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 30If there be laid on him a sum of money - the ransom of his life - So it appears that, though by the law he forfeited his life, yet this might be commuted for a pecuniary mulct, at which the life of the deceased might be valued by the magistrates.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28-32Verses 28-32 The animal was slain as a tribute to the sanctity of human life (Compare the marginal references and Genesis 4:11). It was stoned, and its flesh was treated as carrion. Guilty negligence on the part of its owner was reckoned a capital offence, to be commuted for a fine. In the case of a slave, the payment was the standard price of a slave, thirty shekels of silver. See Leviticus 25:44-46; Leviticus 27:3, and the marginal references for the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-36Verses 22-36 The cases here mentioned give rules of justice then, and still in use, for deciding similar matters. We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by us.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 28-32If an animal caused a person’s death and the owner was judged to be negligent, the relatives of the deceased could demand the death penalty for both the animal and its owner. However, that penalty was not mandatory, and the relatives could elect to accept compensation (21:30).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 28-3628-36. If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die--For the purpose of sanctifying human blood, and representing all injuries affecting life in a serious light, an animal that occasioned death was to be killed or suffer punishment proportioned to the degree of damage it had caused. Punishments are still inflicted on this principle in Persia and other countries of the East; and among a rude people greater effect is thus produced in inspiring caution, and…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 21:30
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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