Comentario sobre Exodo 22:9

כי יתן איש אל רעהו חמור או שור IF A MAN GIVE UNTO HIS FELLOW-MAN AN ASS OR AN OX — The first section (v. 6—9) speaks of the gratuitous bailee and therefore (since the chattels are kept for the use of the bailor only) Scripture frees him of liability for theft, as it is written, (v. 6) “[If a man shall give … to keep] and it be stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief be not found, then the owner of the house shall approach the judges” to take an oath (cf. Rashi v. 7). You may learn from this that he (the bailee) frees himself from liability by this oath. This section (v. 9—12), however, speaks of a “bailee for payment” (שומר שכר) who is therefore not free from liability if the object has been stolen, as it is written, “but if it be certainly stolen from him, he shall pay [unto the owner thereof]” (Bava Metzia 94b). However, for any loss over which he has no control — if, for instance, the animal died a natural death or has been injured by a wild beast, or forcibly seized by robbers, and אין רואה NO ONE SEEING IT that could testify in this matter

חמור או שור או שה, under normal circumstances the poor people assume guardianship of such animals against payment of a fee.

ומת או נשבר, when death or injury was caused by ferocious beasts. Just as the verse speaking of מתה or נשבה speaks of the entire animal being lost (destroyed), the same applies to the word נשבר as the entire animal becoming useless, seeing it had been killed by another beast. We find something parallel in Kings I 13,28 where a donkey and lion are described as standing beside the carcass of the prophet without violating it. The relevant words in our verse are אין רואה, that no one witnessed what happened.