Bava Kamma 077

1:
So far in this chapter we have learned that when someone injures another party they will be liable to compensate the victim for at least one of the five categories of compensation, and possibly all of them. We can now add one further category: if the assailant causes a woman to miscarry her child compensation must be paid.

2:
The biblical source for this category is in the Torah [Exodus 21:22]:

3:
The Mekhilta [Nezikin 8] explains that a new concept has been introduced here. So far the Torah has legislated for deliberate malfeasance. But the above verse is referring to accidental injuries. David and Sam are fighting; David intends to land a hefty punch on Sam but Sam's wife, Rachel, gets in the way and the punch lands on her stomach. Rachel is pregnant and subsequently miscarries her child as a result of the accident. Sam claims that it was David's punch that caused his wife to miscarry and sues David. The judges find for the plaintiff – Sam, not Rachel! – and award compensation.

4:
How is this compensation to be assessed? Rashi's explanation will not surprise us now:

This sum would be compared with her present value in the slave market and the difference between the amounts is the sum of compensation to be paid to the husband. Of course, a prospective buyer would be prepared to pay handsomely for a pregnant slave since she would be introducing into his household a "homeborn slave". (See BK064 in the discussion.) Furthermore, after a miscarriage a female slave would be less capable of hard work.

5:
Two curiosities that derive from the discussion of the sages on this biblical verse in the Mehkilta:

1. If two women were fighting and one of them accidentally injures a pregnant woman who is a bystander and a miscarriage ensues compensation must still be paid (even though the Torah speaks of "two men").
2. If the injured woman's husband is not the father of the child she miscarried no compensation is to be paid.

6:
The Mekhilta also explains the biblical phrase "the one responsible shall be punished":

7:
When we studied the fourth mishnah of chapter five we learned that:

It is to this that our present mishnah is referring when it explains that human beings are more liable for injuries inflicted than an animal.