Exodus 21:28-36: a reflection

28“If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible. 29But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. 30If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed. 31Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. 32If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned. 33“If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, 34the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his. 35“If one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal. 36Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Among the laws given to Israel is one about an ox that gores. If an ox gored someone and had no history of it, the owner was not held liable; it could not have been foreseen. But if the ox had a known habit of goring, and the owner had been warned and yet did not restrain it, then the owner was held responsible for the harm it caused. The difference lay in what the owner knew and failed to prevent. Known danger, left unaddressed, brought accountability.

Notice the principle embedded in this ancient law: we are responsible for the foreseeable harm we could have prevented and did not. The owner of a known dangerous animal could not shrug off the harm as an accident; he had been warned, and his failure to act made him accountable. The law draws a line between the genuinely unforeseeable and the negligently ignored, and it holds us responsible for the latter.

That principle reaches well beyond oxen. We are all responsible for things under our care, and for the foreseeable harm we could prevent, our words, our influence, the things and people in our charge, the consequences we can see coming and choose to ignore. It is not enough to plead that harm was accidental if we knew the danger and did nothing. Take responsibility for what is in your charge. Where you can foresee harm and have the power to prevent it, do not look away and let it happen. God holds us accountable not only for the harm we actively do, but for the foreseeable harm we negligently allow. Be a faithful steward of what is under your care.

Lord, your law held the owner of a known dangerous animal responsible for the harm he could have prevented but did not, drawing a line between the truly unforeseeable and the negligently ignored. Teach me to take responsibility for what is in my charge. Make me mindful of the foreseeable harm I could prevent, in my words, my influence, the things and people under my care, and keep me from looking away and letting it happen. Let me not excuse as accidental what I knew and failed to address. Help me be a faithful steward, accountable not only for the harm I might actively do, but for the harm I could prevent and choose not to. Make me watchful and responsible in all that you have placed in my care.