Exodus 22:1

1. If a man shall steal Moses knew full well that prohibition would not prohibit crimes of any sort without a rigid administration . The eighth commandment (Exodus 20:15) required for the good of society such further enactments as here follow .

Five oxen… four sheep These varying penalties are apportioned according to a relative magnitude of the loss . While the crime of theft is in itself essentially the same, whether more or less be stolen, considerations of value and loss naturally enter into all wise legislation touching the measure of penal fines to be prescribed .

Hence it was provided, further, that if the stolen animal were found alive, the fine would only be double instead of fourfold or fivefold. The killing or selling of the stolen animal would also, generally, imply a more determined purpose to do wrong than when the animal was kept alive.