The Torah · Old Testament
Exodus 22
Restitution, worship and duties toward vulnerable neighbors
General context
The chapter gives different restitution amounts for stolen livestock sold or killed and for animals recovered alive. It distinguishes a fatal blow to a housebreaker from the case after sunrise, and says that a thief unable to repay is to be sold. Damage from grazing animals and spreading fire also requires restitution. Cases concerning entrusted goods, animals and borrowed property distinguish theft, disputed ownership, unseen loss, evidence of an animal attack and the owner's presence. A man who entices and lies with an unbetrothed virgin owes a marriage payment, even if her father refuses the marriage. Death or destruction is prescribed for witchcraft, sexual acts with animals and sacrifice to another god. The people are forbidden to oppress strangers or afflict widows and fatherless children; the Lord promises to hear their cries and threatens judgment on oppressors. Loans to the poor among the people must not carry interest, and a pledged covering must be returned by sunset. The closing instructions address reverent speech, offerings and firstborn, and forbid eating flesh torn by animals in the field.
Cited passages: Exodus 22:1, Exodus 22:2, Exodus 22:3, Exodus 22:4, Exodus 22:5, Exodus 22:6, Exodus 22:7, Exodus 22:8, Exodus 22:9, Exodus 22:10, Exodus 22:11, Exodus 22:12, Exodus 22:13, Exodus 22:14, Exodus 22:15, Exodus 22:16, Exodus 22:17, Exodus 22:18, Exodus 22:19, Exodus 22:20, Exodus 22:21, Exodus 22:22, Exodus 22:23, Exodus 22:24, Exodus 22:25, Exodus 22:26, Exodus 22:27, Exodus 22:28, Exodus 22:29, Exodus 22:30, Exodus 22:31
Exodus 22 (KJV)
1If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
2If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
3If 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.
4If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.
5If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
6If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
7If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.
8If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods.
9For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.
10If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:
11Then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.
12And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
13If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.
14And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.
15But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.
16And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
17If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
18Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
19Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
20He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
21Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
23If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
24And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
25If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
26If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
27For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
28Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
29Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
30Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.
31And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Historical context
The livestock rules specify five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep when the stolen animal is killed or sold, but double repayment when it is found alive. Entrusted-property cases use an oath or physical evidence in specified circumstances; they do not make every loss automatically the keeper's fault. The marriage case gives the father a right of refusal and still requires payment; it supplies no account of the woman's own response. The stranger command recalls Israel's experience in Egypt. The pledged garment is described as the neighbor's only covering for sleep. At verse 28, King James reads 'gods,' American Standard 'God' and Bible in Basic English 'judges'; the guide does not hide that translation difference.
Cited passages: Exodus 22:1, Exodus 22:2, Exodus 22:3, Exodus 22:4, Exodus 22:7, Exodus 22:8, Exodus 22:9, Exodus 22:10, Exodus 22:11, Exodus 22:12, Exodus 22:13, Exodus 22:14, Exodus 22:15, Exodus 22:16, Exodus 22:17, Exodus 22:21, Exodus 22:25, Exodus 22:26, Exodus 22:27, Exodus 22:28
Literary context
The opening cases repeatedly specify what must be restored after loss, then the chapter moves into direct prohibitions and commands. The warnings against mistreating widows and fatherless children include a reversal: the oppressors' own families are threatened with widowhood and fatherlessness. The promise to hear a vulnerable person's cry recurs in the rule about returning a pledged covering. Memory of being strangers gives an explicit reason for the prohibition against oppressing them. The closing call to be holy accompanies instructions about offerings and food, placing social duties and worship within the same address.
Cited passages: Exodus 22:1, Exodus 22:4, Exodus 22:5, Exodus 22:6, Exodus 22:7, Exodus 22:9, Exodus 22:11, Exodus 22:12, Exodus 22:13, Exodus 22:14, Exodus 22:15, Exodus 22:18, Exodus 22:19, Exodus 22:20, Exodus 22:21, Exodus 22:22, Exodus 22:23, Exodus 22:24, Exodus 22:25, Exodus 22:26, Exodus 22:27, Exodus 22:29, Exodus 22:30, Exodus 22:31
Key moments
- A person who starts a damaging fire must repay (Exodus 22:6). The person who kindles a fire that consumes another’s crops or field must make restitution.
- Memory of Egypt informs treatment of strangers (Exodus 22:21). Israel is told not to oppress a stranger because they were strangers in Egypt.
- The Lord promises to hear the afflicted (Exodus 22:23). The warning against afflicting widows and fatherless children includes the promise that the Lord will hear their cry.
- A pledged garment must be returned by sunset (Exodus 22:26). The neighbor’s covering is to be returned before night; the following verse explains the need to sleep in it.
For reflection
What reasons does the chapter give for its commands about strangers, widows, fatherless children and a neighbor's pledged covering?