"When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his. "When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.
Exodus 21:33-36
The legislation now passes from rights of persons to rights of property. First of all there is the matter of careless neglect. The particular instance is that of leaving a well uncovered so that it becomes a hazard to man and beast, but the illustration is of wide application to all sorts of situations today. Damages may be claimed in civil courts, and awarded, for loss incurred through another's carelessness. The principle lying behind all this is that of thoughtfulness, and this is a much to be desired grace in any age. Many of our country's by-laws are directed against the thoughtlessness of careless and selfish people, as for example litter laws and noise abatement. Paul sums up the whole matter, and the whole Old Testament law in the words, 'Love worketh no ill to his neighbour' (Romans 13:10). That is enough for today - a short comment, but one that surely speaks volumes!