Matthew Poole and continuators on Exodus 21:33

33 And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit , and not cover it, and an oxe or an ass fall therein:

If a man shall either open an old pit, which hath been covered with earth, or dig a new pit, to wit, in a publick way, as the reason of the law shews; for if it were done in a mans own house or ground, there was no danger of such an accident, except the beast transgressed his bounds, and then the man was not culpable.