Exodus 22:2
in Exodus 22If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If the thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dieth, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him.
KJV
If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
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This verse in Exodus 22
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIf a thief be found - If a thief was found breaking into a house in the night season, he might be killed; but not if the sun had risen, for then he might be known and taken, and the restitution made which is mentioned in the succeeding verse.
This site's exposition
If a thief be found breaking up
on Exodus 22:2-4
A burglar killed in the dark leaves the householder clear, and the same blow after sunrise makes him answerable, because daylight lets the man be recognised and taken to court instead. Adam Clarke reads the sunrise clause exactly so. A thief who cannot pay is sold for his theft, and an animal recovered alive costs double rather than four or five, so the scale is set by what the thief has already done with it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
As he that does an unlawful act bears the blame of the mischief that follows to others, so likewise of that which follows to himself. A man's house is his castle, and God's law, as well as man's, sets a guard upon it; he that assaults it does so at his peril. Yet, if it was in the day-time that the thief was killed, he that killed him must be accountable for it (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
If a thief be found breaking up,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If a thief, in breaking into a dwelling in the night, was slain, the person who slew him did not incur the guilt of blood; but if the same occurred in daylight, the slayer was guilty in accordance with Exo 21:12. The distinction may have been based on the fact that in the light of day there was a fair chance of identifying and apprehending the thief.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
If the thief is found [caught] while breaking in, and is struck and killed, there is no liability for his blood.
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
9 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 |
| בַּמַּחְתֶּ֛רֶת | bamachteret | in <the> breaking in | H4290 → | |
| יִמָּצֵ֥א | yimatze' | he will be found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| הַגַּנָּ֖ב | haganav | the thief | H1590 → | 17 times |
| וְהֻכָּ֣ה | vehukah | and he will be struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| וָמֵ֑ת | vamet | and he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | for <the> him | ||
| דָּמִֽים׃ | damim | [will be] blood<s> | H1818 → | 360 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
בַּמַּחְתֶּ֛רֶתin <the> breaking in
bamachteretH4290 →
יִמָּצֵ֥אhe will be found
yimatze'H4672 →455 times
הַגַּנָּ֖בthe thief
haganavH1590 →17 times
וְהֻכָּ֣הand he will be struck
vehukahH5221 →499 times
וָמֵ֑תand he will die
vametH4191 →839 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
ל֖וֹfor <the> him
lo
דָּמִֽים׃[will be] blood<s>
damimH1818 →360 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
Matthew 24:43But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
it leads to
- Luke 12:39
But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
- Matthew 24:44
For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.
- 2 Peter 3:10–11
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2–6
For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- Luke 12:39
Through
Joel 2:9They storm the city; they run along the wall; they climb into houses, entering through windows like thieves.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:21
For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
- John 10:1
“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
- Jeremiah 9:21
Through
Job 24:14When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
it leads to
- Revelation 3:3
Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2
For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- Revelation 3:3
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
