Exodus 22:13
in Exodus 22If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If it be torn in pieces, let him bring it for witness: he shall not make good that which was torn.
KJV
If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.
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This verse in Exodus 22
Commentary
4 notes on this verseIf it be torn in pieces - let him bring it for witness - Rather, Let him bring עד הטרפה ed hatterephah, a testimony or evidence of the torn thing, such as the horns, hoofs, etc. This is still a law in some countries among graziers: if a horse, cow, sheep, or goat, entrusted to them, be lost, and the keeper asserts it was devoured by dogs, etc., the law obliges him to produce the horns and hoofs, because on these the owner’s mark is generally found. If these can be produced, the keeper is acquitted by the law.
This 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
If it be torn in pieces,....
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
On the verses either side of this one
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | <if> | H518 → | 1069 times |
| טָרֹ֥ף | tarof | certainly [if] <to tear> | H2963 → | |
| יִטָּרֵ֖ף | yitaref | it will be torn in pieces | H2963 → | |
| יְבִאֵ֣הוּ | yeviehu | he will bring it | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עֵ֑ד | ʾed | evidence | H5707 → | 70 times |
| הַטְּרֵפָ֖ה | haterefah | the torn animal | H2966 → | |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְשַׁלֵּֽם׃ פ | yeshalem | he will make restitution | H7999 → | 116 times |
אִם־<if>
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
טָרֹ֥ףcertainly [if] <to tear>
tarofH2963 →
יִטָּרֵ֖ףit will be torn in pieces
yitarefH2963 →
יְבִאֵ֣הוּhe will bring it
yeviehuH935 →2568 times
עֵ֑דevidence
ʾedH5707 →70 times
הַטְּרֵפָ֖הthe torn animal
haterefahH2966 →
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יְשַׁלֵּֽם׃ פhe will make restitution
yeshalemH7999 →116 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
Ezekiel 4:14“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my…
it leads to
- Acts 10:14
“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
- Ezekiel 20:49
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”
- Ezekiel 9:8
While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”
- Deuteronomy 14:3
You must not eat any detestable thing.
- 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.
- Acts 10:14
Through
Amos 3:12This is what the LORD says: “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued having…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 17:34–37
David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
- Romans 11:4–5
And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
- 1 Samuel 17:34–37
Through
Micah 5:8Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which…
it leads to
- Zechariah 10:5
They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
- Zechariah 10:5
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.