Exodus 22 explained: Laws for Theft, Trust and Mercy

Theft and break-ins (vv. 1-4)

A thief who had already killed or sold a stolen animal paid back four or five times over, but paid double if it was found alive, and a thief who could not pay was sold into service to cover the debt. Killing a burglar at night was not counted as murder, likely because the householder could not see what he intended, but killing one by daylight was.

Damage to crops (vv. 5-6)

If your animals grazed in someone else's field, you repaid them from the best of your own harvest. Farmers burned off dry brush, and if your fire spread to a neighbor's grain you paid for the loss, even though you never meant harm.

Goods held in trust (vv. 7-15)

When goods or animals left with a neighbor went missing, the case went "before God" or "before the judges" (the Hebrew allows either), and where there was no other proof a solemn oath before the LORD settled it. No one paid for a loss they could not have prevented, but a borrower who took an animal without its owner present was responsible for it.

Seducing an unmarried woman (vv. 16-17)

A man who slept with an unmarried young woman had to pay the bride price, a payment a groom gave the bride's family, and marry her unless her father refused, in which case he still paid. The law treats this mainly as a loss to her family and her marriage prospects, and it says nothing about what she herself wanted.

Three crimes punished by death (vv. 18-20)

Sorcery, sex with animals and sacrifice to other gods carried the death penalty, probably because they were seen as breaking Israel's bond with the LORD at its root. Verse 18 was later used to justify killing people accused of witchcraft in Europe and colonial America.

Protecting the powerless (vv. 21-27)

Foreigners, widows and orphans had no land or family to defend them, so the LORD takes their side and warns that anyone who exploits them will suffer the same loss. Loans to the poor carried no interest, and a cloak taken as security had to be returned by sunset because it was a poor person's only blanket.

Respect and first portions (vv. 28-31)

The people were not to curse God or their leaders, or hold back the first share of their grain and wine, and firstborn sons and animals belonged to the LORD (elsewhere the law has sons bought back, not sacrificed). Meat from animals killed by wild beasts was forbidden to a people set apart.

Key verse: Exodus 22:21

Where Christians differ

Interpreters differ on whether verses 8 and 9 send disputes to human judges or to God at the place of worship, because the Hebrew word used there, elohim, can mean either.

Something to think about

These laws single out foreigners, widows and orphans for protection; who do you think is in a similar position today, and what, if anything, do you think a society owes them?