Exodus 21 · Verse 33

Exodus 21:33

And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;

Exodus 21:33, King James Version

Exodus 21:33 in other translations

BSB	If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
WEB	“If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it,
ASV	And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein,
YLT	‘And when a man doth open a pit, or when a man doth dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or ass hath fallen thither, --
DARBY	— And if a man open a pit, or if a man dig a pit, and do not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall into it,
BBE	If a man makes a hole in the earth without covering it up, and an ox or an ass dropping into it comes to its death;
Webster	And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass shall fall into it;

What does Exodus 21:33 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 21:28-36

28-36. If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die--For the purpose of sanctifying human blood, and representing all injuries affecting life in a serious light, an animal that occasioned death was to be killed or suffer punishment proportioned to the degree of damage it had caused. Punishments are still inflicted on this principle in Persia and other countries of the East; and among a rude people greater effect is…

Read the full comment on Exodus 21:28-36 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 33 And if a man shall open a pit, or - dig a pit - That is, if a man shall open a well or cistern that had been before closed up, or dig a new one; for these two cases are plainly intimated: and if he did this in some public place where there was danger that men or cattle might fall into it; for a man might do as he pleased in his own grounds, as those were his private right. In the above case, if he had neglected to cover the pit, and his neighbor's ox or ass was killed by falling into it, he was to pay its value in money. Exo 21:33 and Exo 21:34 seem to be out of their places. They probably should conclude the chapters, as, where they are, they interrupt the statutes concerning the goring ox, which begin at Exo 21:28. These different regulations are as remarkable for their justice and prudence as for their humanity. Their great tendency is to show the valuableness of human life, and the necessity of having peace and good understanding in every neighborhood; and they possess that quality which should be the object of all good and wholesome laws - the prevention of crimes. Most criminal codes of jurisprudence seem more intent on the punishment of crimes than on preventing the commission of them. The law of God always teaches and warns, that his creatures may not fall into condemnation; for judgment is his strange work, i.e., one reluctantly and seldom executed, as this text is frequently understood.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 21:22-36

The cases here mentioned give rules of justice then, and still in use, for deciding similar matters. We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by us.

Read the full comment on Exodus 21:22-36 →

Exodus 21:33 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְכִֽי\־ve.khi-and ifH3588

יִפְתַּ֨חyif.Tachhe will openH6605

אִ֜ישׁ'ishanyoneH376

בּ֗וֹרBora pitH953

א֠וֹ'oorH176

כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588

יִכְרֶ֥הyikh.Rehhe will digH3738

אִ֛ישׁ'ishanyoneH376

בֹּ֖רbora pitH953

וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808

יְכַסֶּ֑נּוּye.khas.Se.nuhe will cover itH3680

וְנָֽפַל\־ve.na.fal-and it will fallH5307

שָׁ֥מָּהSha.mahthere <towards>H8033

שּׁ֖וֹרShoran oxH7794

א֥וֹ'oorH176

חֲמֽוֹר\׃cha.Mora donkeyH2543

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 21:33

Jeremiah 18:22
Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Proverbs 28:10
Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.
Psalms 9:15
The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
Ecclesiastes 10:8
He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
Jeremiah 18:20
Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Psalms 119:85
The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Ps 9:15; 119:85; Pr 28:10; Ec 10:8; Jer 18:20,22

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Exodus 21:32
If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Exodus 21:33
And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;
Exodus 21:34
The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.

Read all of Exodus 21

Exodus 21:33 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y si alguno abriere hoyo, ó cavare cisterna, y no la cubriere, y cayere allí buey ó asno,
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et si un homme ouvre une fosse, ou si un homme creuse une fosse, et ne la couvre pas, et qu’un bœuf ou un âne y tombe,
German Elberfelder 1871	Und wenn jemand eine Grube öffnet, oder wenn jemand eine Grube gräbt und sie nicht zudeckt, und es fällt ein Ochse oder ein Esel hinein,
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Si quis aperuerit cisternam, et foderit, et non operuerit eam, cecideritque bos aut asinus in eam,