Exodus 22:4

_IF A THIEF BE FOUND BREAKING UP, AND BE SMITTEN THAT HE DIE, THERE SHALL NO BLOOD BE SHED FOR HIM._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

Verse Exodus 22:4. _HE SHALL RESTORE DOUBLE._] In no case of theft was the life of the offender taken away; the utmost that the law says on this point is, that, if when _found breaking into a house, he_ _should be smitten so as to die, no blood should be shed for him_; Exodus 22:2. If he had _stolen_ and _sold_ the property, then he was to restore _four_ or _fivefold_, Exodus 22:1; but if the animal was found _alive_ in his possession, he was to restore _double_....

If a thief, in breaking into a dwelling in the night, was slain, the person who slew him did not incur the guilt of blood; but if the same occurred in daylight, the slayer was guilty in accordance with Exodus 21:12. The distinction may have been based on the fact that in the light of day there was a fair chance of identifying and apprehending the thief....

EXPOSITION THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT, _continued_. _Laws connected with rights of property, continued_ (Exodus 22:1). The fret section—Exodus 22:1—is upon theft. The general principle laid down is, that theft shall be punished if possible, by a fine. There is a moral fitness in this, since a man's desire to get what was his neighbour's would lead to the loss of what was his own. In ordinary cases the thief was to restore to the man robbed double of what he had stolen (Exodus 22:4) but, if he had shewn persistence in wrong doing by selling the property, or (if it were an animal) killing it, he was to pay more—four

IF THE THEFT BE CERTAINLY FOUND IN HIS HAND ALIVE,.... Or, "in finding be found" i, be plainly and evidently found upon him, before witnesses, as the Targum of Jonathan; so that there is no doubt of the theft; and it is a clear case that he had neither as yet killed nor sold the creature he had stolen, and to could be had again directly, and without any damage well as it would appear by this that he was not an old expert thief, and used to such practices, since he would soon have made away with this theft in some way or another: WHETHER IT BE OX, OR ASS, OR SHEEP, or any other creature; and even, as Jarchi thinks, anything else, as raiment, goods, c. HE SHALL RESTORE DOUBLE two oxen for an ox, two asses for an ass, and two sheep for a sheep: and, as the same commentator observes, two living ones, and not dead ones, or the price of two living ones: so Solon made theft, by his law, punis...

CHAPTER 22 FURTHER JUDGMENTS _ 1. Concerning theft (Exodus 22:1)_ 2. Concerning neglect in case of fire (Exodus 22:6) 3. Concerning dishonesty (Exodus 22:7) 4. Concerning immoralities and forbidden things (Exodus 22:16) 5. Concerning oppression (Exodus 22:21) 6. Concerning offerings to God (Exodus 22:29) These laws need no further comment; they are good and just. The wisdom of them is the wisdom from above. We call atte

EXODUS 22:1 E. THEFT AND DAMAGE. Fourfold restitution was due (Exodus 22:1), as in Roman law and Bedawin custom, for theft of a sheep (though fivefold for the doubly useful ox), reduced to twofold (Exodus 22:4) if returned alive (_i.e._ the stolen animal and another). A similar principle is found in Bab., Gr., Roman, and Indian law Probably Exodus 22:3 b links Exodus 22:4 directly to Exodus 22:1, providing that a pauper thief shall be sold to provide restitution money. Then, Budd

1 4. Theft of ox or sheep; and burglary....

THE TEXT OF EXODUS TRANSLATION 22 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. (2) IF THE THIEF BE FOUND BREAKING IN, AND BE SMITTEN SO THAT HE DIETH, THERE SHALL BE NO BLOODGUILTINESS FOR HIM. (3) 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. (4) IF THE THEFT BE FOUND IN HIS HAND ALIVE, WHETHER IT BE OX, OR ASS, OR SHEEP; HE SHALL PAY DOUBLE. (5) If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall let his beast loose, and it 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. (6) If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he that kindled the f...

22:4 sheep, (b-19) Strictly, 'small cattle,' sheep or goats. so ch. 34.3,19....