Exodus 21:17-21: a reflection

Among these laws is one requiring that a person who injures another must make good the harm, paying for the injured one's lost time and providing for his healing until he is fully recovered. If men quarrel and one strikes the other so that he is confined to bed, the law says, and he recovers, the one who struck him shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed. When one person harmed another in a quarrel, it was not enough simply to be sorry; the one who caused the harm was responsible to make it good: to compensate the injured one for the time and livelihood he lost, and to provide for his healing until he was fully recovered. Causing harm to another brought a real responsibility to make it right. This shows the responsibility to make good the harm we cause others. When you cause harm or loss to another, you are responsible to make it good. It is not enough to be sorry; take responsibility for the harm you cause. Provide for the recovery of the one you have injured. Making good the harm we cause is part of doing right by others.

Notice the responsibility this law establishes. When one person injured another in a quarrel, so that the injured one was laid up and lost time and livelihood, the law did not treat this as a private misfortune, or leave it at an apology. It laid a real responsibility on the one who caused the harm: he was to pay for the injured one's lost time, and to provide for his healing until he was thoroughly healed. The one who caused the harm was to make it good, bearing the cost of the injured one's recovery. This holds a principle worth taking in. When we cause harm or loss to another, whether by carelessness, in a dispute, or otherwise, we bear a real responsibility to make it good, not merely to feel sorry. It is easy to think that being sorry, expressing regret, is enough when we have harmed someone; but this law shows that doing right by the one we have harmed involves more: taking responsibility for the harm, making good the loss, providing for their recovery so far as we can. To harm another and then simply move on, or offer only words of regret while leaving the injured one to bear the cost alone, is not to do right by them. We are responsible to make good the harm we cause, bearing the cost of setting it right and providing for the recovery of the one we have injured. We do well, when we cause harm or loss to another, to take responsibility and make it good, not leaving them to bear the cost of our doing. When you cause harm or loss to another, take responsibility to make it good. It is not enough to be sorry; provide for the recovery of the one you injured. Do not leave the one you have harmed to bear the cost alone. Making good the harm we cause is part of doing right by others.

That is worth taking to heart, for we are responsible to make good the harm we cause others, and it is not enough merely to be sorry, as this law required providing for the injured one's healing. We can think an apology enough when we harm someone; but this law required the one who caused harm to pay for the lost time and provide for healing. Make it good. When you cause harm or loss to another, do not think being sorry enough; take responsibility to make it good, providing for their recovery so far as you can. When you cause harm or loss to another, take responsibility to make it good, providing for their recovery so far as you can rather than thinking it enough merely to be sorry, as among these laws is one requiring that a person who injures another make good the harm, paying for the injured one's lost time and providing for his healing until he is fully recovered, since when men quarreled and one struck the other so that he was confined to bed and recovered, the one who struck him was to pay for the loss of his time and provide for his healing until he was thoroughly healed; for when one person harmed another it was not enough simply to be sorry but the one who caused the harm was responsible to make it good, compensating the injured one for the time and livelihood he lost and providing for his healing until fully recovered, causing harm to another bringing a real responsibility to make it right, which holds a principle worth taking in, that when we cause harm or loss to another by carelessness, in a dispute, or otherwise we bear a real responsibility to make it good and not merely to feel sorry, since it is easy to think that being sorry and expressing regret is enough when we have harmed someone, but this law shows that doing right by the one we have harmed involves more, taking responsibility for the harm and making good the loss and providing for their recovery so far as we can, so that to harm another and simply move on or offer only words of regret while leaving the injured one to bear the cost alone is not to do right by them, and we do well when we cause harm to take responsibility and make it good.