How a Quarrel Leads From Words to Blows to Punishment

"And if men quarrel" (Exodus 21:18). Nothing good comes out of a quarrel. So it says, "and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle" (Genesis 13:7); what caused Lot to part from that righteous man? You must say it was this quarrel. And it says, "if there be a dispute between men" (Deuteronomy 25:1); what caused them to be flogged? You must say it was this quarrel. "If men quarrel": at first they come to a matter of money, and afterward they come to blows, and afterward they come to penalties. "If men quarrel." From this I know only of men; how do I include two women, or a man and a woman? Scripture says, "then the one who struck shall be cleared" (Exodus 21:19), whether man or woman. Then why does it say "men"? "Men" and not oxen, for it would have followed logically: if in a case where a man is exempt for damage to himself he is liable for damage caused by his ox and his donkey, then where he is liable for damage to himself, should he not surely be liable for damage caused by his ox and his donkey? Therefore Scripture says "men," and not oxen. "And one strikes the other." "And one strikes" excludes a minor; "the other" excludes others; "the other" excludes the resident alien. "With a stone or with the fist." From this I know only of the particular stone and fist; how do I include any object? Scripture says, "then the one who struck shall be cleared," with any object. Then why does it say "with a stone or with the fist"? Shimon the Temanite says: just as a fist is distinct in that it can be assessed by witnesses and the court, so any object that can be assessed by witnesses and the court. "And he does not die but keeps to his bed... he shall pay for his loss of time." Thus, if the victim died, the striker is exempt [from these payments].