Exodus 22:1-4 – Dealing with theft and stealing

In the Book of Covenant, the Lord took the moral law given in the Ten Commandments and then built the civil laws. The eighth commandment was given to discourage theft. It says, “Thou shall not steal.” This is a moral law. How can this be applied within a community? In Exodus 22, God shows them how to apply this law so that God’s people  could live respectfully in the community. This law was given to curb the greed of man. When someone is caught stealing, what could be done? Is putting the thief in custody all that could be done? What about the victim’s loss? Shouldn’t he be compensated? Certainly! That is what Exodus 22:1-4 tell us. God gave instructions on how restitution could be made for victims of theft. This instruction when rightly enforced could be a powerful deterrent for theft.  

Once again, the fairness and justice of our God are being demonstrated in dealing with the loss of one’s possession. He was making sure that justice would be served when people are ripped off. We may think that losing ox, sheep or donkey may seem irrelevant in our day, but we can learn from them how to deal with people who scheme to cheat and steal the belonging of others. Exodus 22 teaches us how to deal with people who resort to stealing. The first four verses deal with a situation where outright theft had taken place and what should be done.

These verses protect a person’s belonging. A person has a right to protect his God-given belongings. Of course, we all must acknowledge that everything we have comes from God and should be used for His glory. It is wrong for someone else to eye the belonging of another person and steal it from that person. So, what happens when a person is caught with stealing another person’s belonging?  It all depends on what was stolen and what happens to what was stolen. What is described in verse 1 tells us that when a person had stolen an ox he had to pay back five oxen and if he had stolen a sheep he had to return four sheep. Why the disparity? It’s because the ox is a person’s valuable tool for living. The owner had taken time to train his ox to work efficiently and effectively. So, to take away his tool would rob him of his earnings. So, the compensation would be five-fold. For stealing a sheep, the thief would have to pay back to the owner just four-fold. Here we see a proper sense of proportion in judgement. A greater compensation must be given when a greater disadvantage had been experienced.

However, the compensation was different should the animal be found in the thieves’ possession alive. The thief only needed to pay back double. This is logical because the owner would have gotten his animal back and wouldn’t need to find a replacement. So, the thief needed only to compensate the owner with another ox or sheep. As we have said, God honours the sanctity of life. A person had the right to protect his property, but he had no right to take away life. If a thief was killed accidentally in the cover of darkness, the owner who killed the thief would not be guilty of murder. But if the thief broke in during the day, he could not be killed outright. He could be made to make restitution. In God’s reckoning even a thief has the right to live. Life is precious!