Exodus 22:1-4

Exodus 22:1-4

[1] If 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.  [2] If a thief  be found  breaking up,  and be smitten  that he die,  there shall no blood  be shed for him. [3] If the sun  be risen  upon him, there shall be blood  shed for him; for he should make full  if he have nothing, then he shall be sold  for his theft.  [4] If the theft  be certainly  in his hand  alive,  whether it be ox,  or ass,  or sheep;  he shall restore  double. 

What does Exodus 22:1-4 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

According to the Code of Hammurabi a thief should die if he could not repay what he had stolen [1] or if he stole by breaking in. [2] 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 chapter22go together and deal with theft generally. The reason for the fivefold and fourfold penalties appears to be that the thief was taking the means of another person"s livelihood. [3] Exodus 22:2-3, which deal with breaking and entering, address a special type of theft. Perhaps the law assumed that the thief"s intent was murder as well as theft if he broke in at night but only theft if he broke in in daylight. If Song of Solomon , we might assume that if his intentions turned out to have been otherwise, the law would deal with him accordingly. The text gives only the typical case. Perhaps the logic was that at night the victim"s life was in greater danger so the law allowed him to use more force in resisting his assailant than in the daytime.