Saturday, January 15, 2022

God's Laws: Injury to Animals

Exodus Chapter 22

10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:
11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.
12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
13 If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.
14 And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.
15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.

Let's pretend that I need to go out of town for a couple of weeks. Obviously, I can't take my dogs with me because it is a business trip. So, you agree to keep my dogs for me.

While I was away, and while you had my dogs, they got sick and died. If you swear an oath that you did everything like I told you to, and had nothing to do with their being sick and dying, then there is nothing you need to do to repay me for my loss.

But, if someone came and stole my dogs from you while they were in your care, you would owe me restitution (twice the worth of my dogs).

If another dog attacked and killed my dogs, and you showed me satisfactory proof of it, then you would not owe me.

If you came to me and asked me if you could "borrow" my dogs so they could play with your niece and nephew who were visiting and had never seen a dog before, and if I let you take them, and if while they were with you they run out in front of a car and get killed, then you owe me restitution.

But, if I was there with you when the dogs got loose and ran in front of a car and got killed, then you don't owe me anything.

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