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Exodus 21

1

Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

2

If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

1
3

If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.

4

If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

5

And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

6

Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

7

And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.

8

If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.

9

And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

10

If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.

11

And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.

12

He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

13

And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.

14

But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.

15

And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

1
16

And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

17

And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

18

And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:

19

If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

20

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

21

Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.

22

If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.

23

And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

24

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25

Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26

And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.

27

And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.

28

If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

29

But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.

30

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.

31

Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.

32

If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

33

And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;

34

The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.

35

And if one man’s ox hurt another’s, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.

36

Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.

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Exodus 21

Exodus 21 opens the Book of the Covenant — the first extended legal code in Scripture — and its first subject is the treatment of Hebrew servants. What follows is both protective and jarring to modern readers: slavery exists in this world, and God's law regulates rather than abolishes it, but the regulations introduce limits, rights, and protections that were revolutionary in the ancient Near East. A Hebrew servant goes free after six years. A servant who loves his master and chooses to stay commits to permanence with a public ceremony. Female servants have protections their male counterparts lack. Then the code turns to bodily harm: whoever strikes a person fatally is to be put to death, but a distinction is made between intentional and accidental killing, and cities of refuge are implied. Striking or cursing a parent carries the death penalty. Bodily injury between people is governed by proportional compensation rather than blood vengeance. The lex talionis — eye for eye, tooth for tooth — is not a license for cruelty but a ceiling on vengeance: the punishment must fit the crime, no more. Jesus quotes this law in Matthew 5:38–39, not to abolish its justice but to call His followers to something beyond it.

Exodus 21:31

This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. The law explicitly extends to children — they are not lesser persons under the covenant law. The goring bull case applies equally when the victim is a child. The specificity is the law's way of preventing the argument that the child's lower social status reduces the owner's liability. Every person — man, woman, son, daughter — has equal standing before the injury law. Matthew 18:5 records Jesus saying whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me — the equal dignity of children under the law is a precursor to Jesus' elevation of children as the model of kingdom belonging.

Exodus 21:23

But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life. The lex talionis — life for life — establishes the principle of proportionality in all that follows. The penalty matches the harm: no more, no less. The principle protects both victims and accused: victims from undercompensation, accused from excessive punishment. Matthew 5:38–39 quotes this verse when Jesus says you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, do not resist an evil person. Jesus does not abolish the lex talionis as a standard of justice; He calls His disciples to a posture beyond retributive justice toward voluntary non-retaliation. The two principles operate in different spheres: the law courts and personal ethics.

Exodus 21:24

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. The series eye for eye, tooth for tooth is not a license for revenge but a ceiling on it: the punishment must match the harm, not exceed it. The tendency of wounded parties is to escalate — Lamech's boast in Genesis 4:23–24 to avenge himself seventy-seven times is the pre-law pattern. The lex talionis constrains that escalation by requiring proportionality. Romans 12:19 says do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: it is mine to avenge. The New Testament does not abolish the principle of proportional justice; it relocates its execution from personal retaliation to divine judgment.

Exodus 21:25

Burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. The continuation of the lex talionis through different categories of bodily harm establishes the comprehensive scope of the proportionality principle. Every type of injury is governed by the same standard. The specificity of burn, wound, bruise indicates that ancient law was detailed and granular — the categories of harm that required different legal treatment were carefully distinguished. 1 Peter 2:24 says Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. The wound-for-wound principle of Exodus 21:25 finds its ultimate redemptive inversion in the wounds of Christ that produce healing rather than retaliation.

Exodus 21:26

An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. The protection of the enslaved person's body is extended to specific injuries: an eye destroyed by the master's blow grants the slave freedom. The compensation is not monetary but liberatory — the loss of an eye is compensated by the gain of freedom. This is a remarkable provision in the ancient world: the property owner's careless or violent act toward their property results in losing that property. The law uses the master's self-interest (loss of labor) to deter violence against the enslaved. The direction is again toward greater protection of the vulnerable: every specific provision for the enslaved reduces the master's power over their bodies.

Exodus 21:27

And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. The same principle as verse 26 applied to a tooth. The progression — eye, tooth — works through the lex talionis of verse 24 systematically: the injuries that would require retaliation between equals require liberation when inflicted on the enslaved. The law is coherent: it cannot simultaneously require proportional justice between free persons and allow unlimited physical harm to the enslaved. The two principles press toward the same outcome: the body of every person has value, and harm to any body requires compensation. The enslaved person who loses a tooth or an eye is compensated with the most valuable thing the law can give: freedom.

Exodus 21:28

If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. The animal liability laws reflect the covenant community's concern for order and safety. The bull that kills is destroyed — the principle of life for life applied to animal violence. But the meat cannot be eaten because the animal that took human life has become defiled by the act. Leviticus 17:14 prohibits eating the blood of any creature — the animal that killed is associated with blood guilt that makes its meat inappropriate. The owner's non-liability when the animal had no prior history of violence reflects the principle of reasonable care: no one can be held responsible for what could not reasonably be foreseen.

Exodus 21:29

If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. The principle of liability through knowledge is introduced: if the owner knew the bull was dangerous and did nothing, the owner is as responsible for the death as if he had killed the person himself. The known risk not managed becomes personal culpability. Ezekiel 3:18 applies the same principle to the watchman who fails to warn: if I say to a wicked person, you will surely die, and you do not warn them — that wicked person will die for their sin, but I will hold you accountable for their blood. Known danger not addressed is a form of causing the harm that results.

Exodus 21:30

However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem their life by the payment of whatever is demanded. The death penalty for the owner in verse 29 can be commuted by a redemption payment — the life-for-life principle can be satisfied by a financial substitute in this case. The flexibility reflects the law's goal of justice and restoration rather than retribution alone. Numbers 35:31 will later specify that this commutation is not available for murder — only for deaths caused by negligence. The redemption principle embedded in Exodus 21:30 is one of the early legal foundations for the broader theological concept of redemption: a substitute payment that transfers liability and restores the one whose life was forfeit.

Exodus 21:32

If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death. The valuation of an enslaved person at thirty shekels of silver is the standard price used in Zechariah 11:12–13 for the valuation of the good shepherd, which Matthew 27:9 applies to the thirty pieces of silver paid for Jesus' betrayal. The price that compensates for the killing of an enslaved person becomes the price paid for the betrayal of the Son of God — the prophetic use of the legal valuation in Zechariah and its fulfillment in Matthew connect the law of Exodus 21:32 to the passion narrative with startling precision. The price of a slave becomes the price of the one who came to free all slaves.

Exodus 21:33

If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange. The liability for open pits is a case of negligence law: the one who created a dangerous condition by leaving a pit uncovered is responsible for the harm it causes. The open pit is not intentional harm but an uncovered hazard — the law holds the person who created the hazard responsible for the consequences of their negligence. James 2:15–16 says if a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food and one of you says to them, go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs — the negligence to act when action is required is the pit left uncovered.

Exodus 21:34

The owner of the pit must pay the owner for the loss; the dead animal will become the property of the person who opened the pit. The compensation structure is clean: the negligent party compensates the victim and receives the dead animal as partial return. The transfer of the dead animal to the party at fault prevents double loss while maintaining the compensation obligation. The legal mechanism ensures that responsibility is assigned, compensation is made, and the loss is distributed appropriately. Proverbs 11:15 warns about the risks of careless guarantees — the liability law of Exodus 21:34 is the practical application of the principle that careless action produces real consequences for which the careless person is responsible.

Exodus 21:35

If anyone's bull injures someone else's bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live animal and divide both the money and the dead animal equally between them. The shared-loss principle governs when two animals come into conflict without prior negligence by either owner: divide the loss equally. When both parties are innocent and one suffers loss, the community principle requires sharing the burden rather than leaving the full loss with the victim. Galatians 6:2 says carry each other's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ — the burden-sharing of Exodus 21:35 is the legal enactment of the same principle. A community ordered by covenant ethics does not leave all the loss with the one who happened to suffer it.

Exodus 21:36

However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange. The known-risk principle from verse 29 is applied to animal-against-animal injury: knowledge of the danger without preventive action creates full liability. The owner who knew and did not act owes full compensation — animal for animal — rather than the shared-loss arrangement of verse 35. The law is internally consistent: negligence in the face of known danger produces full liability; innocent ignorance produces shared loss. The gradation of liability according to knowledge and preventive action is the basis of all subsequent negligence law in Western legal tradition.

Exodus 21:14

But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death. The premeditated murderer finds no sanctuary even at God's altar. The altar, which was a place of refuge in the ancient world, is explicitly not available to the one who has killed with premeditation. 1 Kings 2:28–34 records the execution of Joab, who had taken hold of the altar horns — the principle of Exodus 21:14 in action. The altar is not a magical protection from consequences; it is the place where the righteous approach God. The unrepentant murderer who seeks refuge there is misusing the altar, and the law provides for his removal. The justice of God does not stop at the altar's edge.

Exodus 21:15

Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death. The severity of the penalty for attacking a parent reflects the foundational importance of the parent-child relationship in the covenant community. The same command that required honoring parents in Exodus 20:12 here applies the death penalty to physical violence against them. Proverbs 30:17 says the eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley. The dishonoring of parents is not merely a family matter but a covenant matter: the structure through which the covenant is transmitted from generation to generation is protected by the severity of this law.

Exodus 21:16

Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnappers possession. Kidnapping is listed alongside murder in severity of penalty because the reduction of a person to property through force is a fundamental violation of the image of God in which every person is made. Deuteronomy 24:7 specifically applies this to the kidnapping of a fellow Israelite. 1 Timothy 1:10 lists slave traders among those for whom the law was made — the New Testament application of the principle is explicit. The economy of Egypt, which depended on enslaved labor obtained through force, is here implicitly condemned. The people who were kidnapped into Egypt are legislating against what was done to them.

Exodus 21:17

Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Cursing a parent is grouped with killing and kidnapping in the severity of its consequences — not because words are as physically harmful as violence but because the attack on the covenant structure of family is equally destructive. Matthew 15:4 quotes this verse directly when Jesus confronts the Pharisees about their tradition of Corban, which allowed people to devote money to God that should have gone to their parents: God said, honor your father and mother, and anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Jesus uses Exodus 21:17 as the standard against which their tradition is measured and found wanting. The law protecting parents stands regardless of religious arrangements designed to circumvent it.

Exodus 21:18

If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed. The law begins a series of cases governing bodily harm in non-fatal circumstances. The quarrel — the same legal form as the dispute at Rephidim — produces injury that does not kill. The scenarios are increasingly specific: stone or fist, victim survives but is injured. The granularity of the legal cases reflects the reality that community life produces conflict, and the law must be detailed enough to address what actually happens. Romans 13:10 says love is the fulfillment of the law — the detailed laws of Exodus 21 describe what love looks like in specific situations where people have been harmed by others.

Exodus 21:19

The one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is fully healed. The standard for liability in non-fatal injury cases is threefold: recovery (can walk), compensation for lost time, and full healing. The guilty party's responsibility extends beyond the initial harm to the complete restoration of the victim. The phrase fully healed — the same root as the divine name in Exodus 15:26, the Lord who heals — suggests that the covenant standard for injury compensation is complete healing, not merely adequate treatment. The law envisions a community where harm done is fully addressed, not minimally compensated.

Exodus 21:20

Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result. The law protecting enslaved persons from fatal beatings is a significant departure from surrounding ancient Near Eastern law, where killing one's own slave was generally not a crime. The regulation of the master's power over the enslaved is a covenant restriction on the absolute power that property ownership implied. Ephesians 6:9 says masters, treat your slaves in the same way, and do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven and there is no favoritism with him. The principle that the enslaved person's life has value to God regardless of their legal status is the basis for Paul's instruction.

Exodus 21:21

But they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. The non-punishment of the master when the slave recovers acknowledges the legal reality of the master's property rights while still introducing the significant restriction of verse 20. The law is calibrated to an existing social reality — it does not abolish slavery but places increasing constraints on how the enslaved can be treated. Philemon presents the New Testament extension of this trajectory: Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon not as a slave but as a dear brother, very dear to Paul but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. The directional movement of the law — toward the full humanity of the enslaved — reaches its destination in the gospel.

Exodus 21:22

If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. The protection of the pregnant woman and her unborn child is built into the legal code. The premature birth caused by a blow has legal consequences — a fine set by the husband and approved by the court. The involvement of both parties and the court in setting the penalty reflects the balanced approach to injury law throughout this section. Psalm 139:13–14 says you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb — the worth the law places on the pregnant woman and her unborn child reflects the worth God places on every person from the earliest stage of life.

Exodus 21:1

These are the laws you are to set before them. The Book of the Covenant begins — the first extended legal code in Scripture, covering Exodus 21–23. The phrase set before them is a teaching instruction: these laws are not hidden in priestly archives but placed in front of the community for everyone's knowledge. Deuteronomy 17:18–19 requires the king to write a copy of the law for himself and read it every day. The transparency of the covenant law — available to all, not only to specialists — is the basis of its accountability. James 1:25 says whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it will be blessed in what they do. The law set before Israel is the law looked into for formation and freedom.

Exodus 21:2

If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. The first law is the law of the Hebrew servant — and its opening provision is liberation after six years. The same six-and-one pattern as the Sabbath is built into the servitude law: six years of work, the seventh year of freedom. The law does not abolish slavery in a world where it was economically universal, but it places a limit on its duration and grounds that limit in the covenant rhythm. Deuteronomy 15:12–15 grounds the release in the memory of Egypt: remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. The people who were freed from slavery are commanded to extend freedom to those who serve within their community.

Exodus 21:3

If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. The law tracks the relational status of the servant: what he arrived with, he leaves with. If he arrived alone, he leaves alone; if he arrived married, his wife goes with him. The law does not allow the master to use the servant's family as leverage to extend the servitude beyond the seventh year. The protection of family integrity within the servant relationship is itself a departure from surrounding ancient Near Eastern practice. Ephesians 5:31 quotes Genesis 2:24 — a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. The law that protects the servant's marriage at release honors the one-flesh union that makes the protection necessary.

Exodus 21:4

If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. This provision is the difficult flipside of verse 3: if the master provided the wife, the family produced within the master's household belongs to the master. The law is not endorsing this arrangement as ideal but regulating a practice that existed. The servant who accepted a master-provided wife did so knowing the terms. Galatians 4:22–24 uses the allegory of two sons — one born of the slave woman and one of the free woman — to illustrate the difference between covenant bondage and covenant freedom. The legal category of children born within the master's household becomes the raw material for Paul's theological argument about two covenants.

Exodus 21:5

But if the servant declares, I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free. The seventh-year release was not compulsory — the servant could choose to remain. The stated reasons are relational: I love my master, my wife, my children. The law recognizes that love can create voluntary bonds that a freedom law cannot simply dissolve. The servant who loves his master and family above his freedom is making a theological choice as much as a practical one. John 15:13 says greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends — the servant who lays down his freedom for love of those he serves enacts the same principle at a smaller scale. The love-motivated permanent commitment is the seed of the voluntary self-giving that the New Testament will make central.

Exodus 21:6

Then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. The ear-piercing at the doorpost is the physical mark of the permanent commitment. The doorpost where the Passover blood was applied is the same doorpost where the servant's voluntary permanent bondage is marked. The connection is deliberate: the blood that covered Israel's households on the night of liberation is the same doorpost that witnesses a free person's voluntary choice of permanent service. The ear is pierced because the ear is the organ of hearing — the servant who hears and obeys is marked at the organ of his obedience. Psalm 40:6 says sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have opened — the opened ear is the posture of the servant who chooses to remain.

Exodus 21:7

If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. The law of the female servant is different from the male servant law, reflecting the different social and legal position of women in the ancient Near East. The daughter sold as a servant is not simply a laborer but is typically entering a household as a concubine or potential wife — a form of arranged marriage under economic pressure. The different treatment is not a lesser value placed on women but a recognition of the different vulnerability and the different social function involved. Verses 8–11 will specify the protections for this woman that make her situation different from both ordinary servitude and ordinary marriage.

Exodus 21:8

If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. The law protects the female servant from being trafficked when the master decides he does not want her. If he rejects her, he must allow her redemption — she can be bought back by her family. The prohibition on selling her to foreigners is explicit and grounded in the language of faithfulness: he has broken faith with her. The covenantal language — breaking faith — applied to the treatment of a female servant reflects the same covenant ethics that govern Israel's relationship with God. How one treats the vulnerable is a matter of covenant faithfulness, not merely social custom.

Exodus 21:9

If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. The female servant who becomes the son's wife receives the full rights of a daughter in the household — not secondary status, not the position of servant, but family member. The law upgrades her status rather than confirming her vulnerability. The protection of women entering marriage through economic arrangements is comprehensive in this verse: she is to be treated as a daughter, with all the dignity and provision that implies. Galatians 4:7 says you are no longer a slave but a child of God — the elevation from servant to family member in Exodus 21:9 is a legal enactment of the principle the gospel applies to all who are in Christ.

Exodus 21:10

If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. The obligation to the first wife is maintained even if the man takes a second wife. The three things he cannot deprive her of — food, clothing, marital rights — are the three basic obligations of a husband. The law does not endorse polygamy but regulates it: if it occurs, the first wife's rights are protected absolutely. 1 Timothy 5:8 says if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. The principle of Exodus 21:10 — the obligation to provide for those entrusted to your care cannot be transferred away — runs through the entire biblical ethics of household responsibility.

Exodus 21:11

If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money. The female servant who is deprived of food, clothing, or marital rights is released from the household unconditionally — no redemption price required. The three deprivations that warrant release are the same three obligations named in verse 10. The law gives the woman a concrete legal remedy: if the man fails his obligations, she is free. The provision of a legal exit from an abusive arrangement is itself a remarkable protection in the ancient world. Deuteronomy 24:1–4 regulates divorce partly to protect women from abandonment. The concern for the vulnerable person's ability to leave an unjust situation runs through both passages as a consistent covenant ethics.

Exodus 21:12

Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. The law of murder is stated plainly: fatal blow, death penalty. The simplicity of the formulation establishes the principle; the subsequent verses introduce the distinctions — intent, premeditation, accident — that govern its application. Genesis 9:6 grounded this principle in the image of God: whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed, for in the image of God has God made mankind. The death penalty for murder is not revenge but proportionality and justice. Romans 13:4 says the governing authority does not bear the sword for no reason — the authority to execute judgment on the guilty is a covenant-authorized function. Exodus 21:12 is the legal basis for that authorization.

Exodus 21:13

However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. The distinction between intentional and unintentional killing is fundamental to the law. The phrase God lets it happen does not make God responsible for the death but acknowledges that not every death is the result of malicious intent. Numbers 35:9–15 will establish the cities of refuge to which the unintentional killer can flee. The concept of refuge for those who have caused harm without malice is extended in Hebrews 6:18 to the hope available to all who flee to God: we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. The cities of refuge in the law are types of the refuge God provides.