If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for the ox, and four sheep for the sheep.
This law deals with the thief who steals an ox or a sheep and then kills or sells it. The animal can never be returned. The penalty is not prison but repayment several times over. Why did God set the price so high? And can anyone repay what he has taken from God Himself?
These laws are not a new subject. They apply one of the Ten Commandments to daily life, and they ask for repayment, not just punishment.
Exodus 21 gives us judgments that extend "You shall not murder." Exodus 22 gives us judgments that extend "You shall not steal." People may defraud each other in many ways, and this theme continues to the end of verse 17... The first demand is for "restitution." If that is not possible, the offender must pay damages. No one could devise a fairer penalty than this.
The previous chapter guarded life and person. This one guards property, and it makes the thief answerable to God, not only to his neighbour.
Exodus 22:1-15 brings restitution to our notice. It is a very necessary principle. No one who has to do with "the righteous LORD who loves righteousness" can escape responsibility. Here God shows His care not only for guarding the life and persons of His people, as already noted, but also for their possessions. He demands restitution from the offender, who is accountable to Him in his dealings with others.
These penalties differ in weight, and that is the point. God favours no one and ignores no claim.
On God's part, we find Him making laws that show strict, even-handed, perfect justice... He provided for everything, maintained every interest, and met every claim. There was no partiality — no distinction between the rich and the poor. He weighed each man's claim in a balance set with divine accuracy, so that no one could rightly complain of a decision.
The rule itself is clear. But why five for one animal and four for the other? Scripture does not say.
Verse 1 is plain, though we are not told why stealing an ox needed five oxen in return, while a sheep needed only four sheep.
The heavy rate falls on the thief who destroyed or sold what he took.
If one had stolen an animal and had it in his possession, he must restore double — a much lesser penalty than verse 1.
This law thinks about the victim, not only the criminal. That sets it apart from most systems of punishment.
Human laws only punish, brutalise and perpetuate offenders; they pay nothing back. A man cheats people out of their life savings; he is jailed, and the victims get nothing back. But by God's law a thief was not only punished, but compelled to work for wages to pay back the theft to his victims (Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 6:4). He was not jailed and kept at the expense of the taxpayers, nor did his victims suffer and starve.
Centuries later, a tax collector named Zacchaeus used the words of this law when he met Jesus. His promise raises a harder question about a debt no one can repay.
Zacchaeus refers, without doubt, to this provision of the law (v. 1) when he said to the Lord, "If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold" (Luke 19:8)... But the question for our souls is this: if robbing a fellow man is condemned like this, how can the sin of robbing God be met? How can those who are already sinners make restitution to Him? It is impossible. Left to ourselves, we must have remained under the consequences of our trespasses for ever.
The answer offered is not that the debt is waived, but that Another paid it in full.
It is utterly impossible for bankrupt sinners to make restitution to God. But Another has done so. He was the sin offering and the burnt offering, and also the true trespass offering (Leviticus 5)... The Lord Jesus is the true trespass offering in Isaiah 53:10-12 and also in Psalm 69, where He says in prophetic language, "What I did not steal must I now restore?"
Older translations read that line as a statement: "then I restored that which I took not away."
- Restitution defined. The law asks first for repayment. Only when repayment is impossible does it turn to damages — the fairest penalty anyone could devise.
- Restitution measured. God weighs each penalty exactly: five oxen for an ox killed or sold, but only double when the thief still has the animal alive.
- Restitution to the victim. Human courts jail a thief and leave his victim with nothing. God's law puts the thief to work until his victim gets paid back.
- Restitution owed to God. A thief must repay his neighbour. So what about the greater theft, robbing God? Bankrupt sinners have nothing to pay with.
- Restitution made for us. Christ is the true trespass offering. He restored what He never took away, and He meets every claim against the believer.
If the thief be encountered breaking in, and be smitten so that he die, there shall be no blood-guiltiness for him.
Exodus 22 begins a set of laws about property, and this verse takes the hardest case: a break-in that ends with the thief dead. One detail decides it — whether the killing happened in the dark.
These laws apply one of the ten commandments to daily life. One writer ties the whole chapter to the command against stealing.
In Exodus 21 we get judgments that extend "You shall not kill." In Exodus 22 we find judgments that extend "You shall not steal." Men may defraud each other in many ways… The first demand is for "restitution." If that is not possible, damages must be paid. No one could devise a fairer penalty than this.
The verse draws a line at daybreak.
If someone caught a thief breaking in and killed him, this was not murder if it happened in the dark of night. If it happened in daylight, the one who killed him was guilty of bloodshed (vv. 2-3).
The difference between night and day is deliberate.
It is a mark of righteousness under the law that a man breaking in at night might be killed, but not a man breaking in by day.
The verse speaks of "bloodguilt" because God has put the strongest protection around human life. He gave it long before Moses, and no human law can cancel it.
God alone knows the heart of man, and He has called it "deceitful above all things and incurably wicked." When He gave Noah the government of the earth, He provided for the preservation of man's life in the most solemn terms, which no human laws can set aside: "at the hand of Man, at the hand of each (the blood) of his brother, will I require the life of Man. Whoever sheds Man's blood, by Man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God He made Man."
Against that background the exception stands out. The man who breaks into a house at night forfeits that protection.
God guards what people own as well as their lives. A thief answers to Him, not only to the neighbour he robbed.
Exodus 22:1-15 brings the thought of restitution to our notice. It is a very necessary principle, since no one who deals with "the righteous Lord who loves righteousness" can evade responsibility. Here God shows not only His concern for guarding the life and persons of His people, as already noted, but also a concern for their possessions. He demands restitution from the offender, who is accountable to Him in his dealings with others.
One writer sets this beside modern justice.
Human laws only punish. They brutalise offenders and keep them offending, and they make no repayment. A man cheats people out of their life savings; he is jailed, and the victims get nothing back. But by God's law a thief was not only punished, but made to work for wages to pay back the theft to his victims (Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 6:4). He was not jailed and kept at the taxpayers' expense, nor did his victims suffer and starve.
The thief of this passage had to restore what he took. That points to a debt none of us can settle.
But the question for our souls is this. If robbing a fellow man is condemned like this, how can the sin of robbing God be met? How can those who are already sinners make restitution to Him? It is impossible… But we read in the Psalms of One who said, "Then I restored that which I took not away." He was the trespass offering as well as the sin and burnt offerings. He has therefore made full and adequate restitution for all our trespasses — we can say so, if we believe. In His wonderful grace and mercy, He has repaired every breach that could be charged against us.
(In the ESV, Psalm 69:4 reads as a question: "What I did not steal must I now restore?")
- Guarded life. God put His own protection around human life in Noah's day and never took it back. That is why any killing raises the question of bloodguilt.
- Guarded home. The night intruder is the exception. Killing him carries no guilt, and writers call that a mark of the law's righteousness.
- Guarded goods. The same law that shields people shields their property. The thief answers to God, not just to his neighbour.
- Restitution, not just punishment. Human justice punishes and leaves the victim empty. God's law made the thief work to repay the one he robbed.
- The greater theft. Every one of us has robbed God and can restore nothing. Christ, the trespass offering, repaid what He never took.
If the sun be risen on him, there shall be blood-guiltiness for him; he should have made full restitution if he had nothing, he would have been sold for his theft.
In this verse the time of day decides the case. A thief killed at night leaves no bloodguilt; after sunrise the same killing counts as bloodshed, and the thief who lives must repay in full or be sold to cover what he stole.
Chapter 21 applies the command against murder. Chapter 22 applies the command against stealing, and it puts repayment before punishment.
Exodus 21 gives judgments that extend "You shall not murder." Exodus 22 gives judgments that extend "You shall not steal." People can cheat each other in many ways, and this theme runs to the end of verse 17... The first demand is for restitution. If that is not possible, damages must be paid. No one could devise a fairer penalty.
The same act gets two verdicts, and the hour of the day decides which.
If someone caught a thief breaking in and killed him, this was not murder if it happened in the dark of night. If it happened in daylight, the killer was guilty of bloodshed (vv. 2-3).
Repayment is not only about neighbours settling accounts. The offender answers to God Himself.
Exodus 22:1-15 brings the thought of restitution before us. It is a very necessary principle, for no one who deals with "the righteous LORD, who loves righteousness" can escape responsibility... Here God shows His concern not only for guarding the life and persons of His people, as already noted, but also for their possessions. He demands restitution from the offender, who is accountable to Him in his dealings with others.
The verse ends by selling the thief. That sounds harsh today, yet one writer holds it up against the modern prison.
Human laws only punish offenders, harden them and keep them offending; they repay nothing. A man cheats people out of their life savings; he goes to jail, and the victims get nothing back. But by God's law a thief was not only punished, but compelled to work for wages to pay back the theft to his victims (Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 6:4). He did not sit in jail at the taxpayers' expense, and his victims did not suffer and starve.
What the thief entered was real servitude. The law did not leave it to the owner's will.
The words usually translated "servant" mean bondmen or slaves. Some were bought with money and some were taken in war: compare also Exodus 22:3... The law of Moses recognised this form of servitude, though it was a result of sin, and gave rules about it and for the protection of the slaves.
The words "if he has nothing" describe a thief who owes more than he owns. One writer puts the sinner before God in the same place.
If robbing a fellow man is condemned like this, how can the sin of robbing God be met? How can those who are already sinners make restitution to Him? It is impossible; and if left to ourselves we must for ever have remained under the consequences of our trespasses. But we read in the Psalms of One who said, "Then I restored that which I took not away" (Psalm 69:4)... In the chapter the offender had to make restitution himself. We could not do this. If there had been no substitute for us — no one to restore to God what He had not taken away, but which we had taken away — we must for ever have been answerable to His claims: for ever answerable, but with nothing to pay.
(The ESV puts Psalm 69:4 as a question: "What I did not steal must I now restore?" The older wording above reads it as a statement.)
The law could make a thief hand back what he took. One writer asks what becomes of the thief after that.
The thief is to become a labourer and even a giver, for grace transforms. The law required the thief to make restitution, but grace makes him actively generous.
- Repay, first. The chapter asks first for repayment, not punishment. Damages come only where repayment is impossible.
- Repay, because God is watching. Stealing is more than a quarrel between neighbours. The thief answers to the LORD who loves righteousness.
- Repay, even with your labour. A thief with nothing left worked off his debt to his victim. The penalty repaid the wronged party instead of feeding a prison.
- Repay — but you cannot. The sinner who has robbed God stands where verse 3 leaves the penniless thief: for ever answerable, with nothing to pay.
- Repaid, by Another. One came who restored what He never took away, and grace turns the former thief into a giver.
If the stolen thing be actually found alive in his hand, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep, he shall restore double.
Exodus 22 turns "You shall not steal" into working law, and verse 4 takes the mildest case: the stolen animal is alive and still in the thief's hands. The penalty drops to double — so why does God grade theft by degrees, and why does His justice repair the victim instead of only punishing the thief?
Each of these chapters takes one short command and spells it out.
In Exodus 21 we get judgments that extend "You shall not murder." In Exodus 22 we find judgments that extend "You shall not steal." Men may cheat each other in many ways, and this theme continues to the end of verse 17... The first demand is for "restitution." If that is not possible, then damages must be paid. No one could devise a fairer penalty than this.
Verse 1 charges a man five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. Verse 4 charges only double, because the thief has not killed or sold the animal.
If one had stolen an animal and had it in his possession, he must restore double — a much lesser penalty than verse 1.
The commentators do not claim to know the reason behind every figure:
Verse 1 is plain, though we are not told why stealing an ox called for five oxen in return, while stealing a sheep called for only four sheep.
The animal here is not just livestock. It is somebody's ox, somebody's sheep — and God takes that ownership seriously.
Exodus 22:1-15 brings the thought of restitution before us. It is a very necessary principle. Anyone who has to do with "the righteous Lord who loves righteousness" cannot dodge responsibility. Here God shows not only His concern to guard the life and persons of His people, as already noted, but also His concern for their possessions. He demands restitution from the offender, who is accountable to Him for his dealings with others.
The same principle stands behind the command against stealing, and it holds in the New Testament too.
The eighth commandment enforces the rights of personal property. For a short time many Christians in Jerusalem sold property and shared everything. But even then the rights of private property were not set aside, for Peter said to Ananias, "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?" (Acts 5:4). Yes, it belonged to Ananias, and no one had the right to grab it away from him.
Doubling the value costs the thief and leaves the owner better off than before. Most legal systems do not work that way.
Human laws merely punish, brutalise, and perpetuate offenders; they make no reparations. A man cheats people out of their life-savings; he goes to jail, and the victims get nothing back. But God's law did more than punish a thief. It made him work for wages and pay back to his victims what he had stolen (Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 6:4). He did not sit in jail at the taxpayers' expense, and his victims did not suffer and starve.
The law assumes the thief still has something to give back. Turn the rule toward God, and that assumption collapses.
The question for our souls is this: if robbing a fellow man is condemned like this, how can the sin of robbing God be met? How can those who are already sinners make restitution to Him? It is impossible... But we read in the Psalms of One who said, "Then I restored that which I took not away" (Psalm 69:4). He has therefore made full and adequate restitution for all our trespasses (we can say this, if we believe). In His wondrous grace and mercy He has repaired every breach that could be charged against us... In the chapter the offender had to make restitution himself. We could not do this. Had there been no substitute for us — no one to give back to God what He had never taken, but we had — we would have been answerable to His claims for ever, with nothing to pay.
(The ESV renders Psalm 69:4 as a question: "What I did not steal must I now restore?")
Under this law, the best a thief could do was hand back double. Grace goes further.
The thief is to become a labourer and even a giver, for grace transforms. The law required the thief to make restitution, but grace makes him truly generous.
- Restore, not just punish. God answers theft with restitution first and damages second — the fairest penalty anyone could design.
- Restore in proportion. A living animal still in the thief's hand costs double. An animal killed or sold cost five for one. Why those exact figures? The commentators do not claim to know.
- Restore what God guards. Behind the ox and the donkey stands an owner God protects. Behind that owner stands God, who holds the thief accountable.
- Restore what you cannot. Turn the rule toward God and it exposes a debt no sinner can pay — for ever answerable, with nothing to hand over.
- Restored by Another. One restored what He never took away, and grace goes beyond the law: the thief becomes a worker and a giver.