Essay su Esodo 21:18
וְכִֽי־יְרִיבֻ֣ן אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְהִכָּה־אִישׁ֙ אֶת־רֵעֵ֔הוּ בְּאֶ֖בֶן א֣וֹ בְאֶגְרֹ֑ף וְלֹ֥א יָמ֖וּת וְנָפַ֥ל לְמִשְׁכָּֽב׃
Qualora alcuni uomini contendano, e l’uno percuota l’altro con una pietra, o con un pugno, e l’altro non ne muoja, ma rimanga obbligato al letto;
The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox
The vocabulary of verbs in these verses outlines the subject at hand: “quarrel,” “strike,” “contend,” “harm,” “strike,” “break-off,” “give.” The text treats a number of extenuating circumstances, imposing penalties of varying degrees. The case of an accidentally caused abortion is especially highlighted (vv.22–25), and in a famous verse (23), the lawgiver breaks into rhetoric in order to stress that punishments be scrupulously fair. Also notable is the regulation concerning the goring ox (vv.28–32), where an animal is made to pay the death penalty, since it has destroyed the most sacred thing of all—life itself. Both of the latter cases have received exhaustive treatment in the scholarly literature (see Sarna 1986).
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