Exodus 22:3

22:3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief ¹  must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft.

Exodus 22:8

22:8 If the thief is not caught, ²  then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges ³  to see ⁴  whether he has laid ⁵  his hand on his neighbor’s goods.

Exodus 22:23

22:23 If you afflict them ⁶  in any way ⁷  and they cry to me, I will surely hear ⁸  their cry,

[22:3]  ¹ tn The words “a thief” have been added for clarification. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 224) thinks that these lines are out of order, since some of them deal with killing the thief and then others with the thief making restitution, but rearranging the clauses is not a necessary way to bring clarity to the paragraph. The idea here would be that any thief caught alive would pay restitution.

[22:8]  ² tn Heb “found.”

[22:8]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The phrase “to see” has been supplied.

[22:8]  ⁵ 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.

[22:23]  ³ tn The accusative here is the masculine singular pronoun, which leads S. R. Driver to conclude that this line is out of place, even though the masculine singular can be used in places like this (Exodus, 232). U. Cassuto says its use is to refer to certain classes (Exodus, 292).

[22:23]  ⁴ tn Here again and with “cry” the infinitive absolute functions with a diminished emphasis (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:23]  ⁵ tn Here is the normal use of the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense to emphasize the verb: “I will surely hear,” implying, “I will surely respond.”