Figurative language and wordplay support the literary view: the lex talionis is metaphorical for monetary substitutes. The death sentence on the negligent owner in 21:29 is a hyperbole rather than a rigid legal dictate since the culprit normally escapes death by means of a ransom (21:30). Hence, a legal form is used for something other than a legal purpose: to say in the strongest of possible terms ‘woe to him who allows a dangerous ox to roam about unrestrained.’ Possible poetic devices observed
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