Theft and Thieves

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerningExodus 20:15Exodus 21:16Exodus 22:1–4Exodus 22:10–15Leviticus 6:2–7Leviticus 19:11Leviticus 19:13Deuteronomy 5:19Deuteronomy 23:24Deuteronomy 23:25Psalms 50:18Psalms 62:10Psalms 119:61Proverbs 6:30Proverbs 6:31Proverbs 21:7Isaiah 61:8Jeremiah 2:26Jeremiah 7:9Jeremiah 7:10
• See Dishonesty
• FIGURATIVEObadiah 1:5
• INSTANCES OF
• By Rachel, of the household gods (teraphim)Genesis 31:19Genesis 31:34Genesis 31:35
• AchanJoshua 7:11
• MicahJudges 17:2
• The spies of LaishJudges 18:14–27
• JudasJohn 12:6

The passages, in Bible order (57)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Genesis 31:19

   Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 31:192 voices

   “(Verse 19) And Rachel stole her father's idols. Where we now read idols, it is written in Hebrew Theraphim, which Aquila interprets as μορφώματα, that is, figures or images. This is done so that we may understand what the word Theraphim means in the Book of Judges (17:5).

   “Laban went to shear his sheep - Laban had gone; and this was a favorable time not only to take his images, but to return to Canaan without being perceived. Rachel had stolen the images - תרפים teraphim. What the teraphim were is utterly unknown.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 31:19→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Genesis 31:34

   Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 31:342 voices

   “Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them--The common pack saddle is often used as a seat or a cushion, against which a person squatted on the floor may lean. Jacob was wroth--Recrimination on his part was natural in the circumstances, and, as usual, when passion is high, the charges took a wide range.

   “Moreover, holy Rachel—that is, the church, or prudence—hid the idols, because the church does not know representations and figures of idols that are totally devoid of reality, but it knows the real existence of the Trinity. Indeed, it has destroyed darkness and revealed the splendor of glory.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 31:34→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Genesis 31:35

   Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 31:351 voice

   “The custom of women is upon me - This she knew must be a satisfactory reason to her father; for if the teraphim were used to any religious purpose, and they seem to have been used in this way, as Laban calls them his gods, he therefore could not suspect that a woman in such a situation, whose touch was considered as defiling, would have sat upon articles that were either the objects of his adoration, or used for any sacred purpose. The stratagem succeeded to her wish, and Laban departed without suspicion.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 31:35→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Exodus 20:15

   You shall not steal.

   ›Commentary on Exodus 20:152 voices

   “Thou shalt not steal - All rapine and theft are forbidden by this precept; as well national and commercial wrongs as petty larceny, highway robberies, and private stealing: even the taking advantage of a seller’s or buyer’s ignorance, to give the one less and make the other pay more for a commodity than its worth, is a breach of this sacred law. All withholding of rights and doing of wrongs are against the spirit of it. But the word is principally applicable to clandestine stealing, though it may undoubtedly include all political injustice and private wrongs.

   "You shall not steal:" [Exodus 20:15] for Achan, when he had stolen in Israel at Jericho, was stoned to death; [Joshua 7:1] and Gehazi, who stole, and told a lie, inherited the leprosy of Naaman; [2 Kings 5:27] and Judas, who stole the poor's money, betrayed the Lord of glory to the Jews, [John 12:6] and repented, and hanged himself, and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out; [Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18] and Ananias, and Sapphira his wife, who stole their own goods, and "tempted the Spirit of the Lord," were immediately, at the sentence of Peter our fellow-apostle, struck dead. [Acts 5:1-11]

   Everything gathered on Exodus 20:15→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Exodus 21:16

   Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession.

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Exodus 22:1–4

   “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.

   ›Commentary on Exodus 22:1–41 voice

   “The penalty for the theft of a sheep which was slain or sold, was fourfold; for an ox fivefold, because of its greater utility in labor; but, should the stolen animal have been recovered alive, a double compensation was all that was required, because it was presumable he (the thief) was not a practised adept in dishonesty.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 22:1–4→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Exodus 22:10–15

   If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching,

   ›Commentary on Exodus 22:10–152 voices

   “If a man deliver to his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep,.... And he keeps it without a reward, as the Targum of Jonathan; but Jarchi and Aben Ezra more rightly interpret this of one that keeps for hire, as herdsmen, shepherds, &c.

   “This law appears to relate chiefly to herdsmen employed by the owners of cattle. When an animal was stolen Exo 22:12, it was presumed either that the herdsman might have prevented it, or that he could find the thief and bring him to justice (see Exo 22:4). When an animal was killed by a wild beast, the keeper had to produce the mangled carcass, not only in proof of the fact, but to show that he had, by his vigilance and courage, deprived the wild beast of its prey.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 22:10–15→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Leviticus 6:2–7

   “If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 6:2–72 voices

   “Or in fellowship - Hebrew. Or in putting of the hand: that is, commerce or fellowship in trading, which is very usual when one man puts any thing into another's hand, not to keep it, but to improve it for the common benefit of them both, in which cases of partnership it is easy for one to deceive the other, and therefore provision is made against it.

   “Lie unto his neighbor, etc. - This must refer to a case in which a person delivered his property to his neighbor to be preserved for him, and took no witness to attest the delivery of the goods; such a person therefore might deny that he had ever received such goods, for he who had deposited them with him could bring no proof of the delivery.

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 6:2–7→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Leviticus 19:11

   You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 19:112 voices

   “Ye shall not steal,.... Which is the eighth command; See Gill on Exo 20:15; though Jarchi thinks something different from that law is here intended; that this is a caution against stealing of money, that in the decalogue against stealing of souls, or men.

   “Lev 19:11 forbids injuries perpetrated by craft; Lev 19:13, those perpetrated by violence or power, the conversion of might into right. In Lev 19:13 “defraud” should rather be, oppress.

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 19:11→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Leviticus 19:13

    You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.

    ›Commentary on Leviticus 19:132 voices

    “Let no one deny the hireling the wage he is owed, since we too are hirelings of our God, and from him we look forward to the reward of our labor. And if you indeed, whatever type of businessman you are, deny your hireling a monetary payment that is a perishable trifle, you shall be denied the reward of heaven that has been promised. You shall not defraud, as the law says, the hireling of his pay.

    “Let the day-labourer have his wages as soon as he has done his day's work, if he desire it. It is a great sin to deny the payment of it, nay, to defer it, to his damage, a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance, Jam. v. 4 .

    Everything gathered on Leviticus 19:13→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Deuteronomy 5:19

    You shall not steal.

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Deuteronomy 23:24

    When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not put any in your basket.

    ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:242 voices

    “In vine-growing countries grapes are amazingly cheap; and we need not wonder, therefore, that all within reach of a person's arm, was free; the quantity plucked was a loss never felt by the proprietor, and it was a kindly privilege afforded to the poor and wayfaring man.

    “The Jews say, "This law was chiefly intended in favour of labourers, who were employed in gathering in their harvest and vintage; their mouths must not be muzzled any more than that of the ox when he treads out the corn." 3. It teaches us not to insist upon property in a small matter, of which it is easy to say, What is that between me and thee?

    Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 23:24→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Deuteronomy 23:25

    When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

    ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:252 voices

    “Thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand - It was on the permission granted by this law that the disciples plucked the ears of corn, as related Mat 12:1. This was both a considerate and humane law, and is no dishonor to the Jewish code.

    “The Jews say, "This law was chiefly intended in favour of labourers, who were employed in gathering in their harvest and vintage; their mouths must not be muzzled any more than that of the ox when he treads out the corn." 3. It teaches us not to insist upon property in a small matter, of which it is easy to say, What is that between me and thee?

    Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 23:25→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Joshua 7:11

    Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.

    ›Commentary on Joshua 7:111 voice

    “Also stolen, and dissembled also - The anger of God and the heinousness of Israel’s sin are marked by the accumulation of clause upon clause. As a climax they had even appropriated to their own use the consecrated property purloined from God.

    Everything gathered on Joshua 7:11→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Judges 17:2

    said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”

    ›Commentary on Judges 17:21 voice

    “About which thou cursedst - Houbigant and others understand this of putting the young man to his oath. It is likely that when the mother of Micah missed the money, she poured imprecations on the thief; and that Micah, who had secreted it, hearing this, was alarmed, and restored the money lest the curses should fall on him.

    Everything gathered on Judges 17:2→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Judges 18:14–27

    Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.”

    ›Commentary on Judges 18:14–272 voices

    “Answered - That is, spake, the word answering being often used in scripture of the first speaker. These houses - That is, in one of these houses. What to do - Whether it be not expedient to take them for your farther use.

    “Their journey led them through the territory of Judah, and their first halting place was "behind," that is, on the west of Kirjath-jearim, on a spot called afterwards "the camp of Dan." Prosecuting the northern route, they skirted the base of the Ephraimite hills.

    Everything gathered on Judges 18:14–27→

    Verse page →Original language →