Keluaran 21:29

21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, ¹  and he did not take the necessary precautions, ²  and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.

Keluaran 2:7

2:7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get ³  a nursing woman ⁴  for you from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse ⁵  the child for you?”

Keluaran 21:28

Laws about Animals

21:28 ⁶ “If an ox ⁷  gores a man or a woman so that either dies, ⁸  then the ox must surely ⁹  be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.

Keluaran 21:32

21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner ¹⁰  must pay thirty shekels of silver, ¹¹  and the ox must be stoned. ¹² 

[21:29]  ¹ tn The Hophal perfect has the idea of “attested, testified against.”

[21:29]  ² tn Heb “he was not keeping it” or perhaps guarding or watching it (referring to the ox).

[2:7]  ³ sn The text uses קָרָא (qara’), meaning “to call” or “summon.” Pharaoh himself will “summon” Moses many times in the plague narratives. Here the word is used for the daughter summoning the child’s mother to take care of him. The narratives in the first part of the book of Exodus include a good deal of foreshadowing of events that occur in later sections of the book (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).

[2:7]  ⁴ tn The object of the verb “get/summon” is “a woman.” But מֵינֶקֶת (meneqet, “nursing”), the Hiphil participle of the verb יָנַק (yanaq, “to suck”), is in apposition to it, clarifying what kind of woman should be found – a woman, a nursing one. Of course Moses’ mother was ready for the task.

[2:7]  ⁵ tn The form וְתֵינִק (vÿteniq) is the Hiphil imperfect/jussive, third feminine singular, of the same root as the word for “nursing.” It is here subordinated to the preceding imperfect (“shall I go”) and perfect with vav (ו) consecutive (“and summon”) to express the purpose: “in order that she may.”

[2:7]  sn No respectable Egyptian woman of this period would have undertaken the task of nursing a foreigner’s baby, and so the suggestion by Miriam was proper and necessary. Since she was standing a small distance away from the events, she was able to come forward when the discovery was made.

[21:28]  ⁶ sn The point that this section of the laws makes is that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling the circumstances.

[21:28]  ⁷ tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.

[21:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he dies”; KJV “that they die”; NAB, NASB “to death.”

[21:28]  ⁹ tn The text uses סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל (saqol yissaqel), a Qal infinitive absolute with a Niphal imperfect. The infinitive intensifies the imperfect, which here has an obligatory nuance or is a future of instruction.

[21:32]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:32]  ¹¹ sn A shekel was a unit for measure by means of a scale. Both the weight and the value of a shekel of silver are hard to determine. “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181). Over four hundred years earlier, Joseph was sold into Egypt for 20 shekels. The free Israelite citizen was worth about 50 shekels (Lev 27:3f.).

[21:32]  ¹² sn See further B. S. Jackson, “The Goring Ox Again [Ex. 21,28-36],” JJP 18 (1974): 55-94.