Exodus 22:1-15
God's redeemed people must practice neighbor-protecting justice by making restitution for theft and loss, telling the truth before God, and refusing to treat another person's livelihood as expendable.
1 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
2 If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him.
3 If the sun has risen on him, he is guilty of bloodshed. He shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
4 If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double.
5 “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten by letting his animal loose, and it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard.
6 “If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
7 “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double.
8 If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out whether or not he has put his hand on his neighbor’s goods.
9 For every matter of trespass, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, ‘This is mine,’ the cause of both parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.
10 “If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it;
11 the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, he has not put his hand on his neighbor’s goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.
12 But if it is stolen from him, the one who stole shall make restitution to its owner.
13 If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn.
14 “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor’s, and it is injured, or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely make restitution.
15 If its owner is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease.
God's redeemed people must practice neighbor-protecting justice by making restitution for theft and loss, telling the truth before God, and refusing to treat another person's livelihood as expendable.
To establish covenant case law for theft, property loss, custody, borrowing, and restitution, showing that Israel's redeemed life before the LORD must protect a neighbor's livelihood through truthful responsibility and proportionate restoration.
This passage follows Exodus 21:28-36, where liability and restitution are applied to oxen, pits, negligence, and animal-caused loss. Exodus 22:1-15 continues the restitution theme with theft, property damage, entrusted goods, disputed custody, and borrowing. It applies the command not to steal to complex community life and prepares for the next unit, which moves from property cases into sexual, cultic, and social justice commands.
In an agrarian covenant community, animals, fields, vineyards, grain, tools, and household goods represented food security, labor capacity, and family survival. Theft or negligent loss could destabilize a household, so the law ordered restitution in ways that preserved communal justice and discouraged predatory behavior.
Restitution, Responsibility, Social Holiness, and Compassionate Justice
The LORD’s redeemed people must practice justice, restitution, responsibility, compassion, exclusive worship, and holiness because they belong to the God who hears the cry of the vulnerable.