At Exodus 21:29-31 the term “ransom” is first used in connection with the law involving a goring bull. We read: “If a bull was formerly in the habit of goring and warning was served on its owner but he would not keep it under guard, and it did put a man or a woman to death, the bull is to be stoned and also its owner is to be put to death.

From this law we can see that a ransom involves a balancing of matters. By killing a person, the bull forfeited its life. Likewise, the owner, in allowing a dangerous animal to run loose, shared responsibility in the death of the one whom his bull gored. That is why the owner might have to pay for the life of the killed person with his own life. One life, one human soul, would thus have been counterbalanced with another human soul.