the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.
Parallel translations
- WEB the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.
- KJV The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.
- ESV the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
- NKJV the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.
- NASB the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.
- NLT The owner of the pit must pay full compensation to the owner of the animal, but then he gets to keep the dead animal.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 pit's owner must pay for the dead animal and may keep the carcass. Restitution restores the neighbor's loss fairly.
Overview
By compensating the owner and receiving the dead animal in return, the negligent party makes full and balanced restitution. This reflects the biblical pattern of righting wrongs through restoration rather than mere penalty. It pictures the larger gospel logic in which loss is made good, ultimately through Christ who restores what sin has destroyed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Exod 21:29–30But if the ox has a habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be stoned and its owner must also be put to death.
- Exod 22:14If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution.
- Exod 22:6If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.
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 21:34 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.