If an ox gore a man or a woman— The Hebrew word שׁור shor, might, perhaps, with more propriety, be rendered a bull; the LXX have it ταυρος. The Romans used to mark mischievous bulls by twisting hay about their horns. Horace alludes to this, when he says, foenum habet in cornu, longe fuge, He has hay on his horns, avoid him. The law of the twelve tables ordered, that the owner of such beast should pay for what damages it committed, or deliver it to the person injured. See Genesis 9:5. There can be no doubt that this law extended equally to any other destructive animals, whereof the owners did not take due care.

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