Damages

Damages

Damaged property is not to be treated the same as stolen property.

Leviticus 24:21a

“Whoever kills an animal shall make it good….”

Leviticus 24:18

“Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life.”

These statutes seem to address a situation in which one person is responsible for the death of another’s animal, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Stealing does not appear to be in view, only the death of an animal. In this case, the requirement of justice is only that the dead animal be replaced, whereas, had stealing been involved, more restoration would be required.

We may assume that these statutes apply to other forms of property where damage is done, with or without intent—a child’s baseball through a neighbor’s window, for example, or even in the case of an automobile accident.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.