John Gill Commentary Exodus 22:5

"If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall let his beast loose, and it feed in another man`s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution." — Exodus 22:5 (ASV)

If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten
Which is not his own, by putting cattle into it to feed upon it, as it is explained in the next clause:

and puts in his beast, and feeds in another man's field ;
does damage in one or both those two ways, either by his feet treading down the grass and fruits of the earth, which the Rabbins, as Jarchi says, think, is meant by putting in his beast; or with his beast eating up the same, which is intended by the latter phrase:

of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard,
he shall make restitution
for what damage is done by his beast in his neighbour's field or vineyard; and this held good of any garden or orchard injured in like manner.

And it is a general rule with the Jews, that when any damage is sustained, he that does the damage is obliged to pay with the best the earth produces ^F12, even though better than was the man's that suffered the loss, so that in the future he might be more careful of doing injury to another ^F13.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F12: Misc. Bava Kama, c. 1. sect. 1.
• F13: Bartenora in Misn. Gittin, c. 5. sect. 1.