The Oath That Never Leaves the One Who Swears Falsely

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 22:10

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"An oath of the LORD shall be between the two of them" (Exodus 22:10). It does not depart from between the two of them: if the one swearing swears falsely, it will in the end come back upon him; if the one imposing the oath does so falsely, it will in the end come back upon him. This is what people say: whether innocent or guilty, do not come near to an oath. "That he has not laid his hand" upon it for his own use. You say for his own use; or is it whether or not for his own use? You may reason: "laying of the hand" is said here, and "laying of the hand" is said elsewhere; just as there it means for his own use, so here it means for his own use. "And its owner shall accept" (Exodus 22:10): he accepts the oath from him. "And he shall not pay." From here they said: the owner of the carcass tends to his own carcass [the guardian returns the dead animal to the owner]. Another interpretation: "and its owner shall accept and he shall not pay" teaches that all who swear in the Torah swear and do not pay. Another interpretation: when it says "an oath of the LORD shall be between the two of them," we do not yet know which of them swears and is released; Scripture says "and its owner shall accept and he shall not pay": once the owners have accepted the oath, he is exempt from paying. One might think the same is true for the hired worker, the robbed, and the wounded; Scripture says "between the two of them": sometimes this one swears and sometimes that one swears. Another interpretation: "and its owner shall accept and he shall not pay": if a man borrowed an ox and the ox gored a person, or borrowed an ox that itself gored a person, if the borrower returned it to its owner before its sentence was completed he is exempt, but if after the sentence was completed he returned it, he is liable, as it says "and its owner shall accept and he shall not pay": something the owner would normally accept back, excluding this ox which an owner would not normally take back. Say from now on that this applies to movable goods.

Themes

Divine JusticeLawEthics

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