"The best of his field and the best of his vineyard he shall pay" (Exodus 22:4): "the best of his field and the best of his vineyard" - of the injured party; these are the words of Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says: the verse comes only to require that damages be collected from the best land, and all the more so concerning consecrated property. And as for Rabbi Ishmael: if the animal ate fat produce, the owner pays with fat land; if it ate lean produce, he still pays with fat land. With what case are we dealing here? Where the best land of the injured party is equal to the worst land of the one who caused the damage. And on this they disagree: Rabbi Ishmael holds that we assess according to the property of the injured party, and Rabbi Akiva holds that we assess according to the property of the one who caused the damage. What is Rabbi Ishmael's reason? "Field" is stated above and "field" is stated below: just as the "field" stated above refers to the injured party, so too the "field" stated below refers to the injured party. And Rabbi Akiva holds: "the best of his field and the best of his vineyard he shall pay" - of the very one who is paying. And Rabbi Ishmael: the analogy of identical terms serves one purpose and the verse serves another. The analogy serves as we said; and the verse serves a case such as where the one who caused the damage has both best and worst land, and the injured party has best land, and the worst land of the one who caused the damage is not equal to the best land of the injured party - so that the damager cannot say, "Come and collect from my worst land," but rather he collects from the best. Rabbi Akiva says: the verse comes only, and so on. What is the meaning of "all the more so concerning consecrated property"? If we say that our ox gored an ox belonging to the sanctuary - the Merciful One said "the ox of his fellow" (Exodus 21:35), and not an ox of the sanctuary! Rabbi Akiva holds in accordance with Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya, who said: an ox of the sanctuary that gored an ox of an ordinary person is exempt; an ox of an ordinary person that gored an ox of the sanctuary, whether the ox was harmless or forewarned, pays full damages.
Paying Damages From the Best Land of the Field
Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 345:1
מֵיטַב שָׂדֵהוּ וּמֵיטַב כַּרְמוֹ יְשַׁלֵּם, מֵיטַב שָׂדֵהוּ וּמֵיטַב כַּרְמוֹ שֶׁל נִזָּק, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל, רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, לֹא בָּא הַכָּתוּב אֶלָּא לִגְבּוֹת לִנְזָקִין מִן הָעִידִית, קַל וָחֹמֶר לְהֶקְדֵּשׁ. וְרַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל, אֲכַל שְׁמֵנָה מְשַׁלֵּם שְׁמֵנָה, אֲכַל כְּחוּשָׁה מְשַׁלֵּם שְׁמֵנָה, הָכָא בְּמַאי עַסְקִינַן, כְּגוֹן שֶׁהָיְתָה עִידִית דְּנִזָּק כְּזִבּוּרִית דְּמַזִּיק, וּבְהָא קָמִיפְלְגֵי, רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל סְבַר בִּדְנִזָּק שַׁיְימִינָן, וְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא סְבַר בִּדְמַזִּיק שַׁיְימִינָן. מַאי טַעְמָא דְּרַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל, נֶאֱמַר שָׂדֶה לְמַעְלָה וְנֶאֱמַר שָׂדֶה לְמַטָּה, מַה שָּׂדֶה הָאָמוּר לְמַעְלָה דְּנִזָּק, אַף שָׂדֶה הָאָמוּר לְמַטָּה דְּנִזָּק. וְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא סְבַר מֵיטַב שָׂדֵהוּ וּמֵיטַב כַּרְמוֹ יְשַׁלֵּם, דְּהָאֵיךְ דְּקָא מְשַׁלֵּם. וְרַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל, אַהֲנֵי גְּזֵרָה שָׁוָה וְאַהֲנֵי קְרָא, אַהֲנֵי גְּזֵרָה שָׁוָה כִּדְקָאָמְרִינָן, וְאַהֲנֵי קְרָא, כְּגוֹן דְּאִית לֵיהּ עִידִית וְזִבּוּרִית לַמַּזִּיק וְעִידִית לַנִּזָּק, וְלֹא שַׁוְיָא זִבּוּרִית דְּמַּזִּיק כְּעִידִית דְּנִזָּק, דְּלָא מָצֵי אֲמַר לֵיהּ תָּא גְּבֵי מִזִּבּוּרִית אֶלָּא גָּבֵי מִמֵּיטַב. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, לֹא בָּא הַכָּתוּב וְכוּ'. מַאי קַל וָחֹמֶר לְהֶקְדֵּשׁ, אִילֵימָא דְּנָגְחֵיהּ תּוֹרָא דִידָן לְתוֹרָא דְהֶקְדֵּשׁ, (שמות כא, לה) "שׁוֹר רֵעֵהוּ" אֲמַר רַחֲמָנָא וְלֹא שׁוֹר שֶׁל הֶקְדֵּשׁ, רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא סְבַר לָהּ כְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן מְנַסְיָא, דַּאֲמַר, שׁוֹר שֶׁל הֶקְדֵּשׁ שֶׁנָּגַח שׁוֹר שֶׁל הֶדְיוֹט, פָּטוּר, שׁוֹר שֶׁל הֶדְיוֹט שֶׁנָּגַח שׁוֹר שֶׁל הֶקְדֵּשׁ, בֵּין תָּם בֵּין מוּעָד מְשַׁלֵּם נֵזֶק שָׁלֵם.