Exodus 21:36

Summary

This verse addresses the case of an ox already known to be habitually dangerous. If the owner(s) failed to restrain it despite this known pattern, and it kills again, the owner must pay a live ox as compensation, while keeping the dead ox for himself.

Key words

• noDa' ("it is known", H3045) — niphal perfect, passive/reflexive form: the fact of the ox's dangerous nature "became known" or "was made known," not stated as who observed it.
• naggach ("prone to gore", H5056) — masculine singular adjective describing a fixed characteristic or habitual tendency, not a single incident.
• be'alav ("its owners", H1167G) — masculine plural noun in construct with a pronominal suffix; the plural form may indicate joint ownership or is used generically for "the owner(s)."
• shallem yeshallem ("he will surely pay", H7999A) — piel infinitive absolute followed by piel imperfect; this doubling construction intensifies the verb, marking the payment as certain and obligatory.
• mi-temol shilshom ("from yesterday, three days ago", H8543 + H8032) — an idiomatic time expression meaning "previously" or "for some time," used to indicate an established pattern rather than a single prior day.

What the text says

The verse opens with 'o ("or", H0176A) linking it to the preceding case as an alternative scenario, followed by ki ("that", H3588A) introducing the content of what "is known." The clause shor naggach hu' mi-temol shilshom states that the ox has been "a gorer" going back "from yesterday, three days ago" — an idiom expressing a repeated or established behavior rather than a specific dated event.

The negated verb ve-lo yishmerennu ("and he did not guard it", qal imperfect with 3ms pronominal suffix) attaches to be'alav, plural in form, describing the owner's failure to restrain the animal despite the known danger. The apodosis uses the infinitive-plus-imperfect construction shallem yeshallem to mark obligatory compensation: "ox in place of the ox" (shor tachat ha-shor), where tachat (H8478H) functions as a construct noun meaning "in place of." The final clause states that ha-met ("the dead [animal]", qal participle of H4191) "will belong to him" (yihyeh-lo), assigning the carcass to the original owner of the goring ox.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the causal clause differently, stating that the bull's nature "has been testified to the owner" (μεμαρτυρημένοι ὦσιν τῷ κυρίῳ) and that he "did not destroy it" (μὴ ἀφανίσῃ αὐτόν), where the Hebrew simply says the owners "did not guard it" (lo yishmerennu). This shifts the required action from restraint to elimination of the animal.

The Vulgate uses sciebat ("he knew"), a personal, singular verb attributing direct knowledge to "dominus suus" ("its owner," singular), whereas the Hebrew's noDa' is an impersonal niphal ("it became known") paired with the plural be'alav ("its owners"). The Vulgate also adds cadaver integrum ("the whole/intact carcass"), specifying "intact," a qualifier not present in the Hebrew ha-met ("the dead one").