Exodus 22:3
in Exodus 22But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodguiltiness for him; he shall make restitution: if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
KJV
If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
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This verse in Exodus 22
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA 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.
This site's exposition
If a thief is caught breaking in
on Exodus 22:2-4
A burglar killed in the dark leaves the householder clear, and the same blow after sunrise makes him answerable. Daylight lets the thief be recognised and taken to court, and Adam Clarke reads the sunrise clause exactly so.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), unless it was in the necessary defence of his own life. Note, We ought to be tender of the lives even of bad men; the magistrate must afford us redress, and we must not avenge ourselves.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
If the sun be risen upon him,....
The court of judgment was to do it, and it is probable that the person robbed had the money. Thus with us, in some cases, felons are transported into plantations where alone Englishmen know what slavery is. If a thief broke a house in the night, and was killed in the doing of it, his blood was upon his own head, and should not be required at the hand of him that shed it,
The words behind it
13 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 |
| זָרְחָ֥ה | zarechah | it has risen | H2224 → | |
| הַשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ | hashemesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| עָלָ֖יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דָּמִ֣ים | damim | blood<s> | H1818 → | 360 times |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | [will be] for <the> him | ||
| שַׁלֵּ֣ם | shalem | certainly <make restitution> | H7999 → | 116 times |
| יְשַׁלֵּ֔ם | yeshalem | he will make restitution | H7999 → | 116 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | nothing | H369 → | 789 times |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | [belongs] to <the> him | ||
| וְנִמְכַּ֖ר | venimkar | and he will be sold | H4376 → | 80 times |
| בִּגְנֵבָתֽוֹ׃ | bignevato | for theft his | H1591 → |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
זָרְחָ֥הit has risen
zarechahH2224 →
הַשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁthe sun
hashemeshH8121 →134 times
עָלָ֖יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
דָּמִ֣יםblood<s>
damimH1818 →360 times
ל֑וֹ[will be] for <the> him
lo
שַׁלֵּ֣םcertainly <make restitution>
shalemH7999 →116 times
יְשַׁלֵּ֔םhe will make restitution
yeshalemH7999 →116 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אֵ֣יןnothing
ʾeinH369 →789 times
ל֔וֹ[belongs] to <the> him
lo
וְנִמְכַּ֖רand he will be sold
venimkarH4376 →80 times
בִּגְנֵבָתֽוֹ׃for theft his
bignevatoH1591 →
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
Isaiah 50:1This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:30
How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 3:8
She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.
- Matthew 18:25
Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
- Deuteronomy 32:30
Through
Matthew 18:25Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 5:5
We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 4:1
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 25:39
If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.
- Nehemiah 5:5
Through
Judges 2:14Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:20
So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.
- Psalms 106:40–42
So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
- 2 Kings 17:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
On this verse
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About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.