One of the first concerns of Moses was oxen – and the understanding of oxen. Breeding oxen could not have been what occupied the Children of Israel the most at that time, since they had just been led out from slavery in Egypt. By God they were fed on manna from heaven. Even so Moses quite early in their desert march stated the commands regarding oxen (Exodus 21:28-36).
From the story of the creation we learn that animals on the ground to the earth are like reasons to the human being. The creatures in the ocean are like human needs. And a man wants to be fresh as fish in the water. The birds, on the other hand, reaching for the heavens, are like human wants. And a man also wants to be free as a bird. After creating the creatures in the water and the birds in the sky the fifth day God created the animals on the ground the sixth day. God thereby let us come to our senses, so to speak, by creating this in us which is rational. We found out of the opposition between the creatures in the water and the birds in the sky by becoming sensible. Rational motifs, the animals on the ground, are of three kinds. There are creeps, expressing necessity. There are cattle, expressing usefulness. And there are beasts expressing beauty. In other words our reasoning will be found to be of one of three kinds: There is certainty. There is knowledge. And there is wisdom.
When Moses stated God’s commands regarding oxen this was also to be understood as commands regarding reasoning – regarding the way we come to terms with the world. The oxen are to be understood as science in force: By the oxen the soil was turned. Man asserts himself and acquires power over the earth by his sensibility. And the commandment of Moses says that if an ox gores a man or a woman so that they die, the ox shall be stoned. The flesh of the ox shall not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall be quit. In other words: If an understanding of utility put a person to death, that understanding shall be killed without anyone trying to grasp it. But the owner of the understanding shall go free. But, said Moses: If it has been testified to the owner that the ox in the past has had a want to push with his horn, and the owner has not kept the ox in, and the ox kills a man or a woman, the man owning the ox shall also be stoned to death. In other words: If a man has been warned his understanding is dangerous he is responsible for it.
To be aware of also is that the Law states that if a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and he kills it, or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. The understanding we breed is protected by the Law (Exodus 22:1).
ReplyDeletePaul let write: “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?” (1 Corinthians 9:9) The answer, of course, when thinking of why God gave this commandment, is no. God cares not for oxen but for the reasoning of the human being.
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