Texts in Conversation
The Masoretic Hebrew text of Exodus 21:28 limits liability laws to cases involving an ox, while the Samaritan Pentateuch expands the wording to include “any domestic animal,” likely to clarify and generalize the commandment.
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Exodus 21:28
Hebrew Bible
26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth. 28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman so that either dies, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. 29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned but he did not take the necessary precautions, and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death. 30 If a ransom is set for him, then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Samaritan Exodus 21:28
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
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 or any animal strikes a man or a woman that they die: then the animal shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the animal is innocent. 29 But if the animal was smiting 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 animal 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.
Date: 130-120 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In 4Q158 1–2 4, one finds a similar case of an added detail that anticipates an element of the narrative revealed only later. Here, the added verb והזחאיו, “and he held him fast,” seems to have been inserted by way of explanation of the following demand, ינחלש, “Let me go!” Occasionally, minor additions in the Samaritan Pentateuch have halakhic import. The main example here is the addition of the phrase המהב לכו, “or any (domestic) animal,” to the goring ox laws and other laws involving farm animals in the Covenant Code and in Deuteronomy (Exodus 21:28) ... This same change occurs in Samaritan Pentateuch Exodus 21:33, 35; 22:3; 23:4; Deuteronomy 22:1, 4. The additions indicate that the laws are to be interpreted as applying not simply to the specific animals explicitly mentioned, but to any comparable animal; thus the laws’ applicability is extended ..."
Zahn, Molly M.
Rethinking Rewritten Scripture: Composition and Exegesis in the 4Q Reworked Pentateuch Manuscripts
(p. 142) Brill, 2011
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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