In this passage, Moses shares how violent crimes should be dealt with. If you kill someone (homicide), you must die. However, unintentional killing (manslaughter) can avoid the death penalty by fleeing to a city of refuge. If you strike your parent or curse your parent, you die. If you kidnap someone, you die.
There are other crimes that may not be punishable by death, but in this Scripture the principle of “an eye for an eye” comes into view. Any damage you cause someone else must be answered with equal damage to the perpetrator.
Then, laws concerning controlling your animals are delineated. If you are reckless with your animals, allowing them to roam free, then you are responsible for whatever damage they may do.
While this seems more like congressional action or a penal code, these are Biblical principles that many municipalities, states, and countries have adopted as law as well. The truth is, all ethics and morality originates with God. We simply interpret and live by the laws as much as possible. When man tries to reinterpret the law of God and change them to suit society or situational comfort, we make errors. We can twist God’s laws, but truth still issues from the Divine, not from man. Let God be God, for we are not!
Devoted To You 