Fine
Fine or mulct for damages (q.v.). In some instances, by the Mosaic law, the amount of a fine, or of an indemnification that was to be made, was determined by the person who had been injured; in other instances it was fixed by the judge, and in others was defined by the, law (Ex 21:19-36; De 22:19,29). Twofold, fourfold, and even fivefold restitution of things stolen, and restitution of property unjustly retained, with twenty percent over and above, was required. Thus, if a man killed a beast, he was to make it good, beast for beast. This ordinance, observes Michaelis (Laws of Moses, art. 160), appears only incidentally in Le 24:18, among criminal laws. If an ox pushed or gored another man's servant to death, his owner was bound to pay for the servant thirty shekels of silver (Ex 21:32). In the case of one man's ox pushing or goring another's to death, it would have been a very intricate point to ascertain which of the two had been to blame for the quarrel, and therefore both owners were obliged to bear the loss. The living ox was sold, and the price, together with the dead one, equally divided between them (Ex 21:35). If, however, the ox had previously been notorious for pushing, and the owner had not taken care to confine him, this made a difference; for then, to the man whose ox had been pushed, he was obliged to give another, and the dead ox he got himself (Ex 21:36). If a- man dug a pit and did not cover it, or let an old pit belonging to him remain open, and another man's beast fell into it, the owner of the pit was obliged to pay for the beast, and had it for the payment (Ex 21:33-34). When a fire was kindled in the fields, and did any damage, he who kindled it was obliged to make the damage good (Ex 22:6). SEE PUNISHMENT.
