Exodus 21:12

Footnotes

1. 27 The underlying point of this section remains vital today: The people of God must treat all human life as sacred.
2. 28 The construction uses a Hiphil participle in construct with the noun for “man” (or person as is understood in a law for the nation): “the one striking [of] a man.” This is a casus pendens (independent nominative absolute); it indicates the condition or action that involves further consequence ( §116.w).
3. 29 The Hebrew word וָמֵת (vamet) is a Qal perfect with vav consecutive; it means “and he dies” and not “and killed him” (which require another stem). Gesenius notes that this form after a participle is the equivalent of a sentence representing a contingent action ( §112.n). The word shows the result of the action in the opening participle. It is therefore a case of murder or manslaughter.
4. 30 See A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” 28 (1977): 105–26.