Exodus 22:12
in Exodus 22But if the animal was actually stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
KJV
And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 22
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
And if it be stolen from him
on Exodus 22:12-13
Theft the keeper pays for, since watching was the job he took, and a kill by a wild beast he does not, provided he brings the carcass as evidence. Adam Clarke says graziers were still required to produce horns and hoofs in his own day, because the owner's mark was on them. Amos 3:12 shows the rule in operation with the shepherd taking two legs or a piece of an ear out of the mouth of the lion, and Jacob at Genesis 31:39 held himself above it, bearing the loss of what was torn rather than bringing proof to Laban.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And if it be stolen from him,....
It is unjust and base, and that which all the world cries shame on, to betray a trust. That there is such a general failing of truth and justice upon earth as gives too much occasion to suspect men's honesty whenever it is their interest to be dishonest.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
IF IT BE TORN IN PIECES — “by a wild beast. ‘Y’VIEIHU EID’ — let him bring witnesses that it has been torn in pieces by accident, and then he will be free from paying.” This is the language of Rashi. But one may wonder.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| גָּנֹ֥ב | gano | certainly <to steal> | H1589 → | 40 times |
| יִגָּנֵ֖ב | yiganev | it will be stolen | H1589 → | 40 times |
| מֵעִמּ֑וֹ | meimo | from with <the> him | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| יְשַׁלֵּ֖ם | yeshalem | he will make restitution | H7999 → | 116 times |
| לִבְעָלָֽיו׃ | livalav | to owner<s> its | H1167 → | 84 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
גָּנֹ֥בcertainly <to steal>
ganoH1589 →40 times
יִגָּנֵ֖בit will be stolen
yiganevH1589 →40 times
מֵעִמּ֑וֹfrom with <the> him
meimoH5973 →1050 times
יְשַׁלֵּ֖םhe will make restitution
yeshalemH7999 →116 times
לִבְעָלָֽיו׃to owner<s> its
livalavH1167 →84 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 22:7If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.
it leads to
- Exodus 22:4
If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double.
- Proverbs 6:30–31
Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.
- John 12:6
Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it.
- Exodus 22:4
Through
Genesis 31:39I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night.
it leads to
- Exodus 22:10–13
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,
- Luke 2:8
And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.
- Exodus 22:31
You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.
- Leviticus 22:8
He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.
- John 10:12–13
The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and…
- Exodus 22:10–13
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.