Scripture Daily

Context No. 3874 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 21:17-21: in context

17“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 18“If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed; 19if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed. 20“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished. 21Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the servant is his property.

Among these ancient case laws is one about a quarrel that turns violent: if two men fight and one injures the other so that he is confined to bed but later recovers, the one who struck him is held responsible; he must pay for the injured man's lost time and see that he is fully healed.

We read these old laws across a great distance of culture, yet a principle in this one still speaks clearly. When we cause harm to another, even in the heat of a quarrel, we bear responsibility for it. It is not enough to say the injury was not fatal; the one who caused it must make things right, compensating for the loss and providing for the person's full recovery. There is an enduring justice here: those who do harm are accountable to repair it, as far as they can. This cuts against our instinct to minimize the damage we cause, to say it was not that serious or not entirely our fault. God's law holds us responsible for the harm we do to others and calls us to make it right, to see the injured through to full healing rather than walking away.

When I have caused harm to another, even unintentionally or in the heat of conflict, do I take responsibility to make it right and see them through to full recovery, rather than minimizing the damage I have done?

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