THE PARTIAL JUDGE. by Ernest
Griset.
A FARMER came to a neighbouring lawyer, expressing
great concern for an accident which, he said, had just
happened. “One of your oxen,” continued he;
“has been gored by an unlucky bull of mine, and I
should be glad to know how I am to make you
reparation.” “Thou art a very honest
fellow,” replied the Lawyer, “ and wilt not
think it unreasonable that I expect one of thy oxen in
return.” “It is no more than justice,”
quoth the Farmer, “to be sure; but what did I say ?
I mistake ? It is your bull that has killed one of my
oxen.” “Indeed,” said the Lawyer,
“that alters the case; I must inquire into the
affair, and if -----.” “And if I” said the
Farmer ? “the business, I find, would have been
concluded without an if, had you been as ready to do
justice to others as to exact it from them.”
Bewick 1.14.
Exodus 21
- 26 "If a man hits a manservant or
maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must
let the servant go free to compensate for the
eye.
27 And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant
or maidservant, he must let the servant go free
to compensate for the tooth.
28 "If a bull gores a man or a woman to
death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its
meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull
will not be held responsible.
29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of
goring and the owner has been warned but has not
kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman,
the bull must be stoned and the owner also must
be put to death.
30 However, if payment is demanded of him, he may
redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.
31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son
or daughter.
32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the
owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the
master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned.
33 "If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and
fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls
into it,
34 the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he
must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be
his.
35 "If a man's bull injures the bull of
another and it dies, they are to sell the live
one and divide both the money and the dead animal
equally.
36 However, if it was known that the bull had the
habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it
penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal,
and the dead animal will be his.
1 Kings 20
35 By the word of the LORD one of the sons of the
prophets said to his companion, "Strike me with your
weapon," but the man refused.
36 So the prophet said, "Because you have not obeyed
the LORD, as soon as you leave me a lion will kill
you." And after the man went away, a lion found him
and killed him.
37 The prophet found another man and said, "Strike
me, please." So the man struck him and wounded him.
38 Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting
for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down
over his eyes.
39 As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him,
"Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and
someone came to me with a captive and said, `Guard this
man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life,
or you must pay a talent[2] of silver.'
40 While your servant was busy here and there, the man
disappeared." "That is your sentence," the
king of Israel said. "You have pronounced it
yourself."
41 Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his
eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the
prophets.
42 He said to the king, "This is what the LORD says:
`You have set free a man I had determined should die.[3]
Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for
his people.'"
43 Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went to his
palace in Samaria.
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