Exodus 20:15

20:15 “You shall not steal. ¹ 

Exodus 22:12

22:12 But if it was stolen ²  from him, ³  he will pay its owner.

Exodus 21:16

21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone ⁴  and sells him, ⁵  or is caught still holding him, ⁶  must surely be put to death.

Exodus 22:7

22:7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles ⁷  for safekeeping, ⁸  and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, ⁹  he must repay double.

Exodus 22:1

Laws about Property

22:1 ¹⁰ (21:37) ¹¹  “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back ¹²  five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep. ¹³ 

[20:15]  ¹ sn This law protected the property of the Israelite citizen. See D. Little, “Exodus 20,15: ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’,” Int 34 (1980): 399-405.

[22:12]  ² tn Both with this verb “stolen” and in the next clauses with “torn in pieces,” the text uses the infinitive absolute construction with less than normal emphasis; as Gesenius says, in conditional clauses, an infinitive absolute stresses the importance of the condition on which some consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:12]  ³ sn The point is that the man should have taken better care of the animal.

[21:16]  ³ tn Heb “a stealer of a man,” thus “anyone stealing a man.”

[21:16]  ⁴ sn The implication is that it would be an Israelite citizen who was kidnapped and sold to a foreign tribe or country (like Joseph). There was always a market for slaves. The crime would be in forcibly taking the individual away from his home and religion and putting him into bondage or death.

[21:16]  ⁵ tn Literally “and he is found in his hand” (KJV and ASV both similar), being not yet sold.

[22:7]  ⁴ tn The word usually means “vessels” but can have the sense of household goods and articles. It could be anything from jewels and ornaments to weapons or pottery.

[22:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “to keep.” Here “safekeeping,” that is, to keep something secure on behalf of a third party, is intended.

[22:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “found.”

[22:1]  ⁵ sn The next section of laws concerns property rights. These laws protected property from thieves and oppressors, but also set limits to retribution. The message could be: God’s laws demand that the guilty make restitution for their crimes against property and that the innocent be exonerated.

[22:1]  ⁶ sn Beginning with 22:1, the verse numbers through 22:31 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:1 ET = 21:37 HT, 22:2 ET = 22:1 HT, etc., through 22:31 ET = 22:30 HT. Thus in the English Bible ch. 22 has 31 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 30 verses, with the one extra verse attached to ch. 21 in the Hebrew Bible.

[22:1]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of obligatory imperfect – he must pay back.

[22:1]  ⁸ tn בָּקַר (baqar) and צֹאן (tso’n) are the categories to which the ox and the sheep belonged, so that the criminal had some latitude in paying back animals.