If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him.
Parallel translations
- WEB If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him.
- KJV 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.
- BSB If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him.
- NKJV If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him.
- NLT However, the dead person’s relatives may accept payment to compensate for the loss of life. The owner of the ox may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The negligent owner may instead pay a ransom for his life if one is imposed. Mercy is possible where the offense was negligence rather than intent.
Overview
This provision allows a ransom price to redeem the life of the otherwise condemned owner, distinguishing negligence from deliberate murder, for which no ransom was permitted (Numbers 35:31). It introduces the biblical theme of ransom, a price paid to free a life. That theme reaches its climax in Christ, who gave His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Exod 21:22“If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow.
- Num 35:31–33“‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death.
- Exod 30:12“When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you count them; that there be no plague among them when you count them.
- Prov 13:8The ransom of a man’s life is his riches, but the poor hear no threats.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 21:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.