Or if it is known is literally “Or it is known”; the if is not used here as in verse 33, but it is understood. This verse, however, is an alternative to the situation in verse 35, so most translations, including Good News Translation, have either “But if it was known” or “If, however, it is known” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). It is known does not indicate who has known this, but the context suggests that “it is well-known” (Translator’s Old Testament), “common knowledge” (New Jerusalem Bible). That the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past is the same as in verse 29. (See the comment there.) And its owner has not kept it in is also the same as in verse 29.

He shall pay ox for ox is literally “paying he shall pay bull for the bull.” The emphatic form, “paying he shall pay,” is the same as “dying he shall die” in verses 12-17. As in verse 34, the word for pay means to make amends, or “give compensation” (Durham). Here, however, the payment is not in money but with another “bull.” So Good News Translation has “he must make good the loss by giving the other man a live bull.” And the dead beast shall be his is literally “and the dead will be for him.” This may be understood in two ways: he “shall take possession of the dead animal” (Translator’s Old Testament) or “he may keep the dead animal.” Either way the he refers to the owner of the “bull” that did the killing.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• But if people knew that the bull was in the habit of using his horns to attack others, and its owner did not keep it inside a fence, he must give a live bull to the man in repayment, but he may keep the dead animal.

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 .