If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
Exodus 21:30 belongs to the statutes, judgments, and laws given through Moses to Israel. Those laws were special directions from Christ that guarded the interests of His people and set impartial and exalted requirements. They are to be obeyed, guard against injustice, and guide how people deal with one another, calling people to cease contention, love one another as brethren, and soften their hearts.
In its immediate setting the verse concerns an owner whose ox was known to be repeatedly dangerous and who failed to restrain it or let it loose, making the owner accountable and liable to death if the ox kills someone. When a sum of money is imposed, the liable owner must pay whatever amount is laid upon him as ransom for his life. The surrounding passage fixes thirty pieces of silver, about three pounds ten shillings, as the price of a slave. That slave's price was the amount for which Judas, whose love for money grew until avarice ruled his life, sold his Lord and then betrayed Him with a kiss in Gethsemane.
The same principle of responsibility applies to sellers of liquor who knowingly supply what takes away reason and can lead to violence and death. They are held responsible for violence committed under its influence and are morally responsible before God even when human law lets them go free. God's judgment on that responsibility is severe.
Exodus 21:30 belongs to the statutes, judgments, and laws given through Moses to Israel. Those laws were special directions from Christ that guarded the interests of His people and set impartial and exalted requirements. They are to be obeyed, guard against injustice, and guide how people deal with one another, calling people to cease contention, love one another as brethren, and soften their hearts.
In its immediate setting the verse concerns an owner whose ox was known to be repeatedly dangerous and who failed to restrain it or let it loose, making the owner accountable and liable to death if the ox kills someone. When a sum of money is imposed, the liable owner must pay whatever amount is laid upon him as ransom for his life. The surrounding passage fixes thirty pieces of silver, about three pounds ten shillings, as the price of a slave. That slave's price was the amount for which Judas, whose love for money grew until avarice ruled his life, sold his Lord and then betrayed Him with a kiss in Gethsemane.
The same principle of responsibility applies to sellers of liquor who knowingly supply what takes away reason and can lead to violence and death. They are held responsible for violence committed under its influence and are morally responsible before God even when human law lets them go free. God's judgment on that responsibility is severe.