Commentary for Bava Kamma 88:15
<big><strong>מתני׳</strong></big> שור האשה ושור היתומים שור האפוטרופוס שור המדבר שור ההקדש שור הגר שמת ואין לו יורשין הרי אלו חייבין מיתה ר' יהודה אומר שור המדבר שור ההקדש שור הגר שמת פטורין מן המיתה לפי שאין להם בעלים
How is this to be understood? If you say that there were [in the crowd] nine heathens and one Israelite, why not except the case on the ground that the majority [in the crowd] were persons who were heathens?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For in matters of judgment the principle of 'majority' is as a rule the deciding factor. [That does not mean to imply that the killing of a heathen was no murder. The Mekilta in Ex. XXI, 12 states explicitly that the crime is equally condemnable irrespective of the religion and nationality of the victim. But what it does mean is that the Biblical legislation in regard to crime did not apply to heathens. As foreigners they fully enjoyed their own autonomous right of self-help, i.e., blood feuds or ransom, prohibited by the Law to the Jews, and accordingly were not governed by the provisions made in the Bible relating to murder, v. Guttmann, loc. cit. p. 16 ff and supra p. 211, n. 6.] ');"><sup>15</sup></span>
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