Exodus 22:4 NLT

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Exodus 22:1-17

Laws about repayment (22:1-17)A convicted thief had to return stolen goods and pay a fine in the form of an additional compensation to the owner. The more serious the crime, the heavier the fine. If the thief could not make the payment, he himself became the payment by becoming the slave of the one whose goods he had stolen. It was not lawful to kill a thief caught in the act, unless at night, when self-defence could make such action excusable. Normally the thief was to be captured and brought... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Exodus 22:1-4

"If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If the thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dieth, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodguiltiness for him; he shall make restitution: if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the theft be found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall pay double."Here is... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Exodus 22:1-4

According to the Code of Hammurabi a thief should die if he could not repay what he had stolen [Note: Code of Hammurabi, section 8.] or if he stole by breaking in. [Note: Ibid., section 21.] The Torah modified this law by annulling the death penalty and substituting the penalty of being sold into slavery, in the first case. In the second case, it annulled the death penalty and protected the life of the victim. Exodus 22:1; Exodus 22:4 of chapter 22 go together and deal with theft generally. The... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 22:1-31

The Book of the Covenant (continued)1. Four sheep] The larger compensation required in the case of the ox is probably due to the fact that it is an animal used for labour, and of proportionately higher value, therefore, than a sheep: cp. 2 Samuel 12:6. 2. Breaking up] RV ’breaking in.’ 3. If the sun be risen upon him] i.e. if the housebreaking be committed in daylight. The nocturnal burglar is more dangerous and cannot be so easily detected. In a case of daylight robbery it is less necessary to... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 22:1-4

XXII.(1-4) Theft is here treated of with great brevity, only three kinds being distinguished—(1) Housebreaking; (2) stealing without conversion of the property; (3) stealing with conversion. The main principle of punishment laid down is the exaction from the offender o! Double (Exodus 22:4). When, however, there has been conversion of the property, the penalty is heavier, the return of four-fold in the case of a sheep, of five-fold in that of an ox (Exodus 22:1). Incidentally it is enacted that... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 22:4

(4) If the theft be certainly found in his hand.—If he had not converted it, consumed it, or, if it were an animal, killed it, then, instead of the four-fold or five-fold restitution of Exodus 22:1, a restoration of double was to suffice. read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 22:1-15

6PART III.--RIGHTS OF PROPERTY.Exodus 21:33 - Exodus 22:15.The vital and quickening principle in this section is the stress it lays upon man’s responsibility for negligence, and the indirect consequences of his deed. All sin is selfish, and all selfishness ignores the right of others. Am I my brother’s keeper? Let him guard his own property or pay the forfeit. But this sentiment would quickly prove a disintegrating force in the community, able to overthrow a state. It is the ignoble negative of... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Exodus 22:1-31

6THE LESSER LAW.Exodus 20:18 - Exodus 23:33.With the close of the Decalogue and its universal obligations, we approach a brief code of laws, purely Hebrew, but of the deepest moral interest, confessed by hostile criticism to bear every mark of a remote antiquity, and distinctly severed from what precedes and follows by a marked difference in the circumstances.This is evidently the book of the Covenant to which the nation gave its formal assent (Exodus 24:7), and is therefore the germ and the... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Exodus 22:1-31

CHAPTER 22 Further judgments 1. Concerning theft (Exodus 22:1-5 ) 2. Concerning neglect in case of fire (Exodus 22:6 ) 3. Concerning dishonesty (Exodus 22:7-15 ) 4. Concerning immoralities and forbidden things (Exodus 22:16-20 ) 5. Concerning oppression (Exodus 22:21-28 ) 6. Concerning offerings to God (Exodus 22:29-31 ) These laws need no further comment; they are good and just. The wisdom of them is the wisdom from above. We call attention to Exodus 22:18 : “Thou shalt not suffer... read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 22:1-31

LAWS AS REGARDS PROPERTY (vs.1-15) While one rightly was control over his own property, yet he is also responsible as to how he uses it. If one were to dig a pit, even on his own property, and leave it uncovered, he would he responsible for an animal falling into it. If the animal died, the owner of the pit must pay the value of the animal, and could therefore keep the dead beast (v.34). In the case of one man's ox killing one belonging to another person, then half the value of the live ox... read more