Exodus 22:8-11

22:8 If the thief is not caught, ¹  then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges ²  to see ³  whether he has laid ⁴  his hand on his neighbor’s goods. 22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, ⁵  whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ ⁶  the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, ⁷  and the one whom ⁸  the judges declare guilty ⁹  must repay double to his neighbor. 22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt ¹⁰  or is carried away ¹¹  without anyone seeing it, ¹²  22:11 then there will be an oath to the Lord ¹³  between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay.

Leviticus 5:1

Additional Sin Offering Regulations

5:1 “‘When a person sins ¹⁴  in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify ¹⁵  and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened ¹⁶ ) and he does not make it known, ¹⁷  then he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ¹⁸ 

Proverbs 30:9

30:9 lest I become satisfied and act deceptively ¹⁹ 

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or lest I become poor and steal

and demean ²⁰  the name of my God.

[22:8]  ¹ tn Heb “found.”

[22:8]  ² tn Here again the word used is “the gods,” meaning the judges who made the assessments and decisions. In addition to other works, see J. R. Vannoy, “The Use of the Word ha’elohim in Exodus 21:6 and 22:7,8,” The Law and the Prophets, 225-41.

[22:8]  ³ tn The phrase “to see” has been supplied.

[22:8]  ⁴ tn The line says “if he has not stretched out his hand.” This could be the oath formula, but the construction here would be unusual, or it could be taken as “whether” (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:438). U. Cassuto (Exodus, 286) does not think the wording can possibly fit an oath; nevertheless, an oath would be involved before God (as he takes it instead of “judges”) – if the man swore, his word would be accepted, but if he would not swear, he would be guilty.

[22:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “concerning every kind [thing] of trespass.”

[22:9]  ⁶ tn The text simply has “this is it” (הוּא זֶה, hu’ zeh).

[22:9]  ⁷ tn Again, or “God.”

[22:9]  ⁸ tn This kind of clause Gesenius calls an independent relative clause – it does not depend on a governing substantive but itself expresses a substantival idea (GKC 445-46 §138.e).

[22:9]  ⁹ tn The verb means “to be guilty” in Qal; in Hiphil it would have a declarative sense, because a causative sense would not possibly fit.

[22:10]  ¹⁰ tn The form is a Niphal participle from the verb “to break” – “is broken,” which means harmed, maimed, or hurt in any way.

[22:10]  ¹¹ tn This verb is frequently used with the meaning “to take captive.” The idea here then is that raiders or robbers have carried off the animal.

[22:10]  ¹² tn Heb “there is no one seeing.”

[22:11]  ¹³ tn The construct relationship שְׁבֻעַת יְהוָה (shÿvu’at yÿhvah, “the oath of Yahweh”) would require a genitive of indirect object, “an oath [to] Yahweh.” U. Cassuto suggests that it means “an oath by Yahweh” (Exodus, 287). The person to whom the animal was entrusted would take a solemn oath to Yahweh that he did not appropriate the animal for himself, and then his word would be accepted.

[5:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And a person when he sins.” Most English versions translate this as the protasis of a conditional clause: “if a person sins” (NASB, NIV).

[5:1]  ¹⁵ tn The words “against one who fails to testify” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to make sense of the remark about the “curse” (“imprecation” or “oath”; cf. ASV “adjuration”; NIV “public charge”) for the modern reader. For the interpretation of this verse reflected in the present translation see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:292-97.

[5:1]  ¹⁶ tn The words “what had happened” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[5:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and hears a voice of curse, and he is a witness or he saw or he knew, if he does not declare.”

[5:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he shall bear his iniquity.” The rendering “bear the punishment (for the iniquity)” reflects the use of the word “iniquity” to refer to the punishment for iniquity (cf. NRSV, NLT “subject to punishment”). It is sometimes referred to as the consequential use of the term (cf. Lev 5:17; 7:18; 10:17; etc.).

[30:9]  ¹⁹ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) means “to be disappointing; to deceive; to fail; to grow lean.” In the Piel stem it means “to deceive; to act deceptively; to cringe; to disappoint.” The idea of acting deceptively is illustrated in Hos 9:2 where it has the connotation of “disowning” or “refusing to acknowledge” (a meaning very close to its meaning here).

[30:9]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb literally means “to take hold of; to seize”; this produces the idea of doing violence to the reputation of God.