Exodus 22

If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he must pay back five oxen for the one ox, and four sheep for the one sheep.

1If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

NoteMultiple restitution (paying back several times what was taken) was the standard penalty for livestock theft in the ancient Near East. Oxen carried the heavier fine because a plow ox was a working animal that took years to train, and its loss cost the owner a whole season's labor, not just the animal. (In Hebrew Bibles this sentence is counted as the last verse of chapter 21, so verse numbers in this chapter run one apart between Hebrew and English editions.)

2If a thief is caught breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, no one is guilty of bloodshed for him.

2If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.

Note"There shall no blood be shed for him" is a legal formula, not a description: it means no bloodguilt attaches to the killer. Under Israelite custom an unlawful killing left the dead man's family entitled to pursue the killer; declaring that there is no bloodguilt cancels that claim.

3But if the sun has risen on him, then there is guilt of bloodshed for him. A thief must make full payment for what he stole. If he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft.

3If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

Note"If the sun be risen upon him" means if the break-in happens in daylight. The distinction is that in the dark the householder cannot see who the intruder is or whether he is armed, while in daylight he can, so killing him is no longer treated as self-defense.

4If the stolen animal is found alive in his hands, whether it is an ox, a donkey, or a sheep, he must pay back double.

4If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.

NoteThe penalty here is lower than the fivefold and fourfold payments of verse 1 because the animal is still alive and can be handed straight back; the thief has not destroyed or disposed of it.

5If a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed bare, turning his animal loose so that it feeds in another man's field, he must pay back from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.

5If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.

NoteFields and vineyards in this period were usually unfenced strips lying side by side, so an animal let loose to graze could easily strip a neighbor's crop. "Of the best of his own field" means the compensation is measured by the owner's best produce, not by whatever poor crop the offender chooses to hand over.

6If a fire breaks out and catches in thorn bushes, so that stacked grain, or grain still standing, or the field itself is burned up, the one who started the fire must certainly pay for the loss.

6If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

NoteThorn hedges were grown along the edges of fields as boundaries and as barriers against animals; dry thorn catches fire fast and carries it from one plot to the next. KJV "corn" means grain of any kind, wheat or barley, not maize.

7If a man gives his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and they are stolen out of that man's house, then if the thief is found, the thief must pay back double.

7If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.

NoteThere were no banks. People left money and valuables with a trusted neighbor for safekeeping, especially when traveling, and these verses set out who bears the loss when the deposit goes missing.

8If the thief is not found, the owner of the house must be brought before the judges, to find out whether he himself laid his hand on his neighbor's goods.

8If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods.

Note"The judges" translates the Hebrew word *elohim*, which can mean God, gods, or human authorities acting as judges; ancient and modern translators have gone both ways, and the same ambiguity appears again in verse 28. Trials of this kind were held at the town gate or a local sanctuary. "Put his hand unto" is an idiom for helping himself to another's property.

9In every case of wrongdoing, whether about an ox, a donkey, a sheep, clothing, or any lost thing that another person claims is his, the case of both sides must come before the judges. The one the judges declare guilty must pay back double to his neighbor.

9For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.

NoteThe double payment falls on whichever side the judges find to be lying (the man who wrongly holds the goods, or the man who wrongly claimed them), so a false accusation carries the same cost as the theft.

10If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, or is hurt, or is driven away, with no one seeing it,

10If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:

11then an oath before the LORD shall settle the matter between the two of them, that he did not lay his hand on his neighbor's goods. The owner must accept that oath, and the keeper does not have to pay for the animal.

11Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.

NoteWhere there are no witnesses, the case is settled by a formal oath sworn in the LORD's name. The oath is legally decisive: the owner must accept it and drop his claim, and the risk of swearing falsely is left between the swearer and God rather than pursued in court.

12But if the animal was stolen from him, he must pay the owner back for it.

12And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

13If it was torn in pieces, then let him bring it as evidence, and he does not have to pay for what was torn.

13If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.

NoteA shepherd proved that a predator had killed an animal by producing the carcass or what was left of it, a leg, a piece of ear. The same practice appears in Genesis 31:39 and Amos 3:12.

14If a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies while the owner is not with it, he must certainly pay for it.

14And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.

15But if the owner was with it, he does not have to pay for it. If it was rented, the rental fee covers the loss.

15But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.

Note"It came for his hire" means the rental price already carries the risk: the fee the hirer paid is treated as covering the possibility that the animal would be injured or die while working.

16If a man talks a young woman who is not engaged into sleeping with him, he must pay the bride price for her and make her his wife.

16And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

NoteThe bride price (Hebrew *mohar*) was a payment made by the groom or his family to the bride's father when a marriage was agreed. A woman who was "betrothed" was already legally pledged, which is why this law concerns one who is not, an engaged woman's case was treated far more seriously.

17If her father flatly refuses to give her to him, the man must still pay money equal to the bride price for virgins.

17If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

NoteThe father keeps the right to refuse the marriage, but the man still pays. Deuteronomy 22:29 fixes the standard amount at fifty shekels of silver. The money went to the father, who would otherwise have received a bride price from a future husband.

18You must not let a witch live.

18Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

NoteThe Hebrew word is feminine, a woman practicing sorcery: spells, potions, curses and divination for hire. "Witch" in 1611 English carried that same sense of someone working harmful magic, not the later folklore figure.

19Anyone who has sex with an animal must certainly be put to death.

19Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

20Whoever sacrifices to any god except the LORD alone must be completely destroyed.

20He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

Note"Utterly destroyed" translates a technical term (Hebrew *herem*) meaning placed under a ban, handed over irrevocably to God and so removed from ordinary human use, which in the case of a person meant death.

21You must not mistreat a foreigner living among you, and you must not press him down, because you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

21Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

NoteA "stranger" here is a resident foreigner: someone living long-term among Israelites but outside the family and clan networks that owned land and enforced a person's rights. Such a person had no relatives to take up his cause, which is what made him easy to exploit.

22You must not harm any widow or fatherless child.

22Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

NoteWidows and fatherless children are named together throughout the Hebrew Bible as the standard examples of people with no male relative to provide for them or speak for them in a legal dispute, which in this society meant no income and no protection.

23If you harm them in any way at all, and they cry out to me at all, I will certainly hear their cry,

23If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;

24and my anger will burn hot, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your own wives will be widows and your own children will be fatherless.

24And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

25If you lend money to any of my people among you who is poor, you must not act toward him like a moneylender, and you must not charge him interest.

25If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

Note"Usury" in 1611 English meant charging interest of any kind, not merely charging too much. Lending to a poor Israelite was treated as relief for someone in distress rather than as a business transaction, so no profit could be taken from it.

26If you do take your neighbor's cloak as security for a loan, you must give it back to him before the sun goes down,

26If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

NoteTaking a garment "to pledge" means holding it as security until the loan is repaid. The pledge here is the poor man's outer cloak, a large rectangle of cloth worn by day and used as a blanket at night, so it has to be handed back each evening, which makes it a token of the debt rather than real collateral.

27because that cloak is his only covering. It is the clothing for his body. What else will he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I will hear him, because I am gracious.

27For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

28You must not speak evil of God, and you must not curse the ruler of your people.

28Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

NoteThe word translated "the gods" is the same ambiguous Hebrew word as in verse 8, *elohim*: it can mean God, or gods, or the human judges and leaders who ruled in God's name. The pairing with "the ruler of thy people" in the second half has led translators to read it either way.

29You must not delay in offering from the fullness of your harvest and from your press. You must give me the firstborn of your sons.

29Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

Note"Thy ripe fruits, and thy liquors" renders two Hebrew words meaning roughly your fullness and your outflow, the grain heaped up from the harvest and the juice running from the winepress and olive press. On the firstborn sons: elsewhere in Exodus (13:13, 34:20) the firstborn son is bought back by a payment rather than handed over.

30Do the same with your oxen and your sheep. The newborn is to stay with its mother for seven days, and on the eighth day you must give it to me.

30Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

Note"Give it me" means offer it in sacrifice. The seven-day wait allowed the newborn to be suckled by its mother; an animal that died in its first days was in any case not viable, and the same eight-day rule appears in Leviticus 22:27.

31You are to be holy men who belong to me. You must not eat any meat from an animal torn by wild animals in the field. You are to throw it to the dogs.

31And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

NoteAn animal killed by a predator has not been slaughtered and drained of blood, and its flesh may already be tainted, so it is excluded from food. Dogs in this world were not pets but half-wild scavengers around the edges of a settlement; throwing meat to them is the ordinary way of disposing of a carcass.