Moses gives the people the laws for living. He expands on the basics of the Ten-ish commandments we just went through. Now there is more nuance and a sliding scale of both crimes and punishments.
In the chapter earlier it was a lot of one-liners. “You shall not steal; you shall not murder.” Now Moses differentiates between intentional murder, the death penalty, and killing from a hit that was unplanned, exile or banishment.
It’s all still pretty intense, hitting your parents can result in the death penalty. Kidnapping or causing miscarriages is also punishable by death. Injuries are punishable on a one-for-one basis. An eye is required for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a burn for a burn. It is technically fair, but still barbaric for us.
Even the animals get into the mix. An ox that gores a person gets put down, but the owner of an ox that is known to gore gets the death sentence if his ox continues to hurt people. There are also laws for restitution: a replacement animal is required sometimes and other times an animal is sold and the value split between the two owners. You can see the emphasis on community accountability and fairness.
This society they are rebuilding in the wilderness has to be regulated and differentiated from life in Egypt. Remember that Moses had his own run-in with Egyptian law. He killed a man for beating a slave and then himself ran away. He’s had a few decades to think it over the consequences, mercy and fairness.
Slavery is a big issue: fellow Hebrews aren’t allowed to stay in slavery, servitude for debt, but no longer than six years. Even then, they have rights to remain married or single as they arrived. They can be incorporated into the household if they want. There are compensations or freedom required for slave women who have been treated as a wife and then replaced. Injuries that cannot be treated are also compensated by freedom.
The compensation for a slave’s accidental death is thirty shekels. I can’t help remembering that is the same amount that Judas got paid for betraying Christ: the price of a slave.
