Nineteenth-century commentator Adam Clarke said of Exodus 21, “There is so much good sense, feeling, humanity, equity, and justice in the following laws, that they cannot but be admired by every intelligent reader; and they are so very plain as to require very little comment.” The Torah is not difficult for God’s beloved to understand and follow. These next few chapters show us many examples of laws and precepts which carried over directly into the British Common Law as well as American jurisprudence. What do we learn about God through these judgments?
Thought Questions
What is a “judgement”? What do these judgements do for victims of crime?
What does the Torah ask of us?
What is the Hebrew term for a “poor” person?
What was the master supposed to do with a slave who wants to remain in his household at the end of the time prescribed?
What does it mean to “strike” (Strong’s Hebrew lexicon No. 5221 nakah) your father or mother?
What does it mean to “curse” (Strong’s 7043 qalal) one’s mother and father?
Is it against Torah to interpret “eye for an eye” in a monetary sense? Is it supposed to be taken literally? If so, why are the physical crimes for all but murder to be restituted monetarily?
How does the Torah deal with death of the unborn (Ex. 21:22-25)?
How do these laws show us how to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:43; Matt. 19:19; Matt. 22:39; Mark 12:31; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8)?
Why did God give these judgments to the people? How does the detailing of justice in these two chapters related to the detailing of the tabernacle and sacrifices in the next few chapters of Exodus?
Reader: Bill Kastrinos. Speaker: Richard Agee.