Exodus 22

This chapter continues the laws given at Sinai, applying God’s justice to everyday life: theft, damaged property, loans held in trust, and wrongs against a young woman. It then turns to worship and mercy, warning against idolatry and sorcery and commanding care for foreigners, widows, orphans and the poor. The thread running through it is that God’s people are to be holy, and holiness shows in how they treat their neighbors.

Exodus 22:1

The penalty for stealing and killing or selling an ox or sheep is far more than the loss: five oxen for one, four sheep for one. An ox was a working animal, so its loss cost the owner more. Theft is made costly, and the victim is more than repaid.

BSA: repay (“make restitution, restore”): The aim is to put things right for the one wronged, not only to punish the thief.

Exodus 22:2-3

A thief breaking in at night could not be seen clearly, and a householder might kill him in fear for his family; this brought no bloodguilt. In daylight the situation was clear, and killing him was murder. Even a thief’s life has value. A thief who cannot repay is sold into service to work off the debt.

BSA: guilt (“bloodguiltiness, responsibility”): Taking a life carries real moral weight, and the law will not treat it lightly even when the victim is a thief. sold (“given into bondage, become a slave”): Working off a debt was the way a penniless thief made good what he owed.

Exodus 22:4

If the stolen animal is found alive with the thief, so that nothing has been slaughtered or sold, the penalty drops to double. The law fits the penalty to the harm done. Restoring the animal plus an equal amount again makes the thief pay for what he tried to gain.

BSA: double (“twice the value, a twofold restitution”): The thief gives back what he took and adds the same again from his own pocket.

Exodus 22:5

A man whose animals wander into another’s field or vineyard must pay for the damage from the best of his own crop. Carelessness has a cost. Paying from his best means the neighbor is not left with the loss, and the owner cannot offer leftovers.

BSA: best (“finest, choicest”): The neighbor is repaid at the highest quality, so the careless man feels the cost.

Exodus 22:6

Someone lights a fire, perhaps to burn off thorns, and it spreads and destroys a neighbor’s grain. Even though he did not intend the harm, he must pay in full. We answer for the damage our actions cause, not only for what we meant.

BSA: started (“kindled, ignited”): The one who lit the fire carries the responsibility for where it went.

Hebrew: שַׁלֵּם יְשַׁלֵּם (shallem yeshallem, H7999) — “he shall surely make complete.” The verb is related to the word for peace, shalom. Paying back is meant to make things whole again between neighbors, and the doubled form stresses that it must be complete.

Exodus 22:7-8

Valuables left with a neighbor and stolen from his house must be repaid double by the thief if he is found. If no thief turns up, the neighbor must come before the judges to show he has not taken them himself. Trust between friends is protected by open examination.

BSA: safekeeping (“to keep, to guard”): The neighbor accepted a duty to guard what was not his. judges (“God, Elohim, those who judge”): The Hebrew word here is the one usually translated God, so judging is understood as standing before God.

Hebrew: הָאֱלֹהִים (ha’elohim, H430) — “God (or those who judge for God).” The word is literally God. Judges sat in his place, and coming before them was like coming before him.

Exodus 22:9

When two people each claim the same animal or garment, both must bring the dispute to the judges. Whoever the judges find guilty pays double to his neighbor. Disputes are settled by public hearing, not by force or quarrel.

BSA: claims (“says is theirs, asserts ownership”): Each side has to state and defend a claim, so an honest ruling can be made.

Exodus 22:10-13

When an animal in a neighbor’s care dies, is hurt or disappears with no witness, the keeper swears an oath before the LORD that he did not take it. The owner accepts that and the matter ends. If the animal was stolen through his negligence, he pays. If wild beasts tore it, the torn body is his proof.

BSA: oath (“a solemn promise, a vow”): Where no human witness exists, God himself is called on as witness. evidence (“for witness”): The torn body speaks for the keeper and shows he was not at fault.

See also: Hebrews 6:16.

Exodus 22:14-15

A borrower who was not with the owner must pay in full if the animal is hurt or dies. If the owner was present, no payment is due, since he could have protected it. For a hired animal, the rental fee covers the loss. Responsibility follows who had control.

BSA: borrows (“takes on loan, rents”): The borrower takes on full care of something that belongs to someone else. rented (“hired or leased”): A paid arrangement already covers the risk, so no extra payment is due.

Exodus 22:16-17

A man who seduces an unengaged virgin must pay the bride-price and marry her, unless her father refuses. Then he still pays the price. In that world an unmarried woman who had lost her virginity faced a hard future, so the law makes the man provide for her.

BSA: seduces (“entices, persuades”): The man has led her astray and is held responsible for it.

Hebrew: מֹהַר (mohar, H4117) — “bride-price.” This was the payment a groom made to the bride’s family as the marriage was arranged. Here it is required of the man who wronged her, so her family is not left with the loss.

See also: Deuteronomy 22:28-29.

Exodus 22:18

Sorcery is forbidden because it seeks power and knowledge from spirits other than the LORD. Israel was surrounded by nations that practiced it. It was treated as a form of rebellion against God, which is why the penalty is so severe.

BSA: sorceress (“woman who practices witchcraft/sorceress”): The word describes a practitioner of occult arts, not a harmless fortune-teller.

Hebrew: מְכַשֵּׁפָה (mekhashephah, H3784) — “a woman who practices sorcery.” The word points to occult practice that uses spiritual powers, which Israel was told to avoid altogether.

See also: Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

Exodus 22:19

Sexual relations with an animal is a grave perversion of the order God made. The law treats it as so serious that it carries the death penalty, setting Israel apart from the practices of the surrounding peoples.

See also: Leviticus 18:23.

Exodus 22:20

Sacrificing to any god but the LORD is treason against the covenant. God had just rescued Israel and claimed them as his own. Giving worship that belongs to him to another is the most basic breach of that relationship.

BSA: set apart (“devoted, utterly destroyed”): The offender is placed under a ban and handed over entirely to God’s judgment.

Hebrew: יָחֳרָם (yacharam, H2763) — “he shall be devoted to destruction.” This is the word for something dedicated wholly to God and removed from ordinary use. Here it means the offender is given over to judgment.

See also: Exodus 20:3.

Exodus 22:21

Israel must not wrong or oppress the foreigner living among them. Their own history is the reason: they were once strangers in Egypt and knew what mistreatment felt like. Remembering their own suffering was meant to make them gentle toward others.

BSA: foreign resident (“stranger, sojourner”): This is someone living among a people not his own, without family or land to protect him. oppress (“mistreat”): The word means pressing hard on someone who cannot push back.

Hebrew: גֵּר (ger, H1616) — “resident foreigner.” A ger lived among Israel without a family inheritance. He depended on the community’s fairness, so God took up his cause.

See also: Leviticus 19:33-34.

Exodus 22:22

Widows and orphans had no husband or father to defend them, making them easy to exploit. God names them directly and forbids mistreating them. Those with the least power are the ones he guards most closely.

BSA: mistreat (“take advantage of, afflict”): The prohibition covers any way of using their weakness against them.

See also: James 1:27.

Exodus 22:23-24

If the vulnerable are wronged and cry out, God promises to hear. The one who has no earthly protector has a heavenly one. His anger against the oppressor is stern, and its result mirrors the harm done: the oppressors’ own wives and children would suffer the loss they inflicted.

BSA: distress (“trouble, vexation”): God hears the cry of someone pressed down by trouble. kindled (“burned, enkindled”): The picture is of a fire catching, as his anger is stirred by injustice against the weak.

Hebrew: צָעֹק (tsa’oq, H6817) — “crying out.” This is the cry of someone wronged who appeals for help. It is the same word used of Israel crying out in Egypt, so Israel should know how God answers it.

See also: Exodus 2:23-25.

Exodus 22:25

When a poor fellow Israelite borrows, the lender must not profit from his need. A loan to the poor was a way of helping, not a business opportunity. God is protecting the needy from sinking deeper into debt.

BSA: interest (“usury, excessive fees”): Charging fees on someone in need turns a loan into a way of profiting from his distress. poor (“needy, impoverished”): The law is aimed at those who truly have nothing to spare.

Hebrew: נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh, H5392) — “interest, literally a bite.” The word comes from a verb meaning to bite. Interest on a poor man’s loan gnaws at what little he has.

See also: Leviticus 25:35-37.

Exodus 22:26-27

A poor man might give his cloak as a pledge for a loan. The lender must return it by sunset, because it was his only blanket at night. God points to the man’s cold body and says he will hear his cry, “for I am compassionate.” His law is shaped by his own character.

BSA: collateral (“pledge, security”): A pledge guarantees repayment, but it may not leave the borrower suffering. compassionate (“gracious, merciful”): God gives this as his reason for the rule: he acts on his own kindness.

Hebrew: חַנּוּן (channun, H2587) — “gracious, compassionate.” This is the word God later uses to describe himself to Moses. It speaks of kindness shown to someone who has no claim on it.

See also: Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 24:12-13.

Exodus 22:28

Two things are forbidden: speaking against God, and cursing the ruler of the people. Respect for God comes first, and respect for authority is tied to it. A community is steadier when its leaders are honored, though this does not make them beyond question.

BSA: blaspheme (“revile or curse”): The word is about contemptuous speech that treats God as worthless. curse (“invoke harm upon”): To curse a ruler means to call down harm on him, not merely to disagree with him.

See also: Romans 13:1; Acts 23:5.

Exodus 22:29-30

The first and best belongs to God: the first of the harvest, the vintage, the firstborn sons, and the firstborn of the herds and flocks. Animals stay with their mothers seven days and are given on the eighth. For sons, Israel was later told to redeem them. The firstborn were a reminder that all belongs to God.

BSA: offerings (“firstfruits, the best part”): God receives the first and best portion, trusting that the rest will be enough. hold back (“delay or withhold”): Giving late or partially is treated as the same as refusing. eighth day (“after a full week”): The young animal gets a full week of life with its mother first.

See also: Exodus 13:2; Proverbs 3:9.

Exodus 22:31

God calls Israel to be his holy people, set apart for him. One daily sign of this is refusing meat from an animal torn by wild beasts, which was unclean and bloody. Holiness reaches into ordinary things like what they ate.

BSA: holy (“set apart, consecrated”): Holy means belonging to God and different from the world around, not just being better behaved. mauled (“torn, killed”): An animal killed by predators was not fit for the table of God’s people.

Hebrew: קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, H6944) — “holiness, set-apartness.” The verse literally says men of holiness. The people are to belong to God and so be marked out from every other people.

See also: Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15-16.