As mentioned above, verses 4-5 seem to change the subject, but they are not concerned so much with the animals as with the proper treatment of one’s enemy. And some have suggested that the enemy intended here may be an opponent in a lawsuit. The form of the law also changes from the categorical (“Thou shalt not”) to the casuistic (“When [ki] … then…”), and from a negative to a positive statement.

If you meet, literally “if you [singular] encounter,” may be understood as “When you come upon” (New Revised Standard Version) or “If you happen to see” (Good News Translation). The word for enemy comes from the verb meaning “to be hostile,” and in a number of languages, “your enemy” will be translated as “a person who is hostile to you” or “a person who hates you.” (For ox and ass, see the comment at 20.17 and 9.3.) Going astray means “wandering off” (New International Version) or “running loose” (Good News Translation), or even “not penned up.” You shall bring it back to him is literally “returning you [singular] shall return it to him.” This is the emphatic form used in 21.12, which King James Version renders as “thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.” Revised English Bible expresses this as “you must take it back to him” (similarly Translator’s Old Testament and Durham).

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .