This thread is cracking me up!
so anyhoo.....
James Mixon
millie: share your research, it may come in handy one day. I love asking questions like this with my JW family, anything to make them think. The flood, they refuse to talk about that.
Yes not to spoil the mood but I was thinking that animals in such an agrarian community had significant worth and the death of one would be a financial impact people would not want to incur.
Apparently I am the only person who thought that because I didnt find that reason anywhere.
What I did find had more to do with the heinous crime that bestiality fell in to the heading of in that time period......
to encapsulate it, the reason the animal was to be slain was
a) so no one could see that animal and refer to it in reference to the act of beastiality.
b) to underscore causation in the death of a man.
several Jewish references plus this one below that covers the same ground.
http://biblehub.com/commentaries/leviticus/20-15.htm
sorry to be such a fuddy duddy!
carry on!