When it is written מכה נפש בהמה ישלמנה (And he that smites a beast mortally shall make it good)⁷⁴², it is in a peculiar language, because the verb שלם (pay) should not have a pronoun referring to the thing which causes the obligation of payment. And the sages of blessed memory give a homiletical interpretation.

The pronoun of the wordישלמנהrefers to the thing which causes the obligation of payment, namely the beast that one smites mortally. The homiletical interpretation is that the word ישלמנה should be interpreted as meaning “make it good”, meaning that the one who smites the beast mortally shall compensate the owner of the beast whatever he owes⁷⁴³.

footnotes: ⁷⁴² Leviticus 24:18. ⁷⁴³ Malbim, HaTorah v’HaMitzvah Emor 247.