Animal Control Laws

Exodus 21:22–36
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In this passage we continue with regulations that dealt with civil violations due to neglect:

1. Woman with child injured (vv. 22-23). If a pregnant woman delivered her a child prematurely because of injury the guilty party was to pay compensation which was to be determined by the woman’s husband and the court.
2. Physical loss by injury (vv. 24-25) - Punishment was to be a similar loss to the offender.
3. Permanent maiming of a slave (vv. 26-27) - The master must let the slave go free.
4. Injuries inflicted by animals (vv. 28-36) - Personal injury caused by an animal was chargeable to its owner. However, if the animal had killed repeatedly both the animal and its owner was to be put to death. Injury to other animals resulted in fining the offending animals owner or in his replacing the injured or dead animal.

Some find a biblical argument against abortion in (vv 22-25). However this seems to be in the context of a fight between two men and the woman is an innocent bystander, so its relevance for abortion is questionable. The remaining law in this section (vv. 26-36) concerns personal injury to a servant. Then we move from injuries inflicted between human beings to injuries involving animals.

Application

I may not allow bees to build a nest in my attic but it is very easy to let the things of this world to creep into my life and the quickest way is to let wrong thoughts build a nest in my mind. The best way to keep this from happening is to keep my mind saturated with the Word of God.