Unlike today, when thieves are caught and sent to jail, God says if a thief is caught, the thief was to restore what they stole, plus an additional penalty, Exodus 22:1. If a thief was caught in the act and killed, then the owner of what the thief was trying to steal wasn’t held responsible, Exodus 22:2.
Johnson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The life, even of a thief, is of consequence in the eyes of God.’
Notice that the owner had the right to use reasonable force to protect what they owned, however, if the owner waited until daylight to kill the thief, then he was guilty of the death of the thief, Exodus 22:2.
Anyone who steals must make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft, Exodus 22:3. If the stolen animal is found alive in their possession, they must pay back double, Exodus 22:4.
Although most animals grazed in the open fields, some people owned private land for their animals to graze in. Here God says that no man’s livestock was allowed to graze on another’s private property, Exodus 22:5. This tells us that the owner of an animal was responsible for the grazing of his animals, and he was to respect his neighbour’s property.
Restitution was paid according to a predetermined amount or percentage; it wasn’t left to the victims or the judges to decide how much was to be paid. The same principle is applied if a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, Exodus 22:6.
Here we read that a person could entrust his possessions or livestock into the hands of a neighbour. These protective laws were to direct the proper handling of a man’s possessions if they were entrusted to another for safekeeping.
Remember, there were no banks like we have today, so people would often take their valuables to their neighbour for safekeeping, Exodus 22:7. However, if they were stolen from their neighbour’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double, Exodus 22:7.
If the thief isn’t found, then the owner of the house must appear before the judges, and the judges need to determine whether the owner of the house has laid hands on the other person’s property, Exodus 22:8.
In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, ‘This is mine,’ both parties are to bring their cases before the judges, note the footnote says, ‘before God’, but the guilty party must pay back double to the other, Exodus 22:9.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Bringing such a dispute before the duly-constituted authorities was considered bringing it ‘before God.’ Also, ‘He whom God condemns’ is a reference to a judgment by the magistrates.’
If anyone gives an animal to their neighbour for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, then the issue will be settled by the taking of an oath before the LORD that the neighbour did not lay hands on the other person’s property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required, Exodus 22:10-11.
However, if the animal was stolen from the neighbour, restitution must be made to the owner, Exodus 22:12. If the animal was torn to pieces by a wild animal, then the neighbour needs to bring the remains as evidence and won’t be required to pay for the torn animal, Exodus 22:13.
Johnson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The requirement that the one with whom deposits were left had to make restitution actually served as the neighbour’s bond.’
The point here is that if a person entrusted another with their possessions, then the person they entrusted their possessions with was held responsible for looking after them, Amos 3:12.
There was a time when a man’s word meant everything, and people respected a man’s word until they had a reason not to trust him anymore. Even today in our court system, people are assumed innocent until they are proven guilty, 1 Corinthians 6:1-8.
Here again, we’re reminded that if anyone borrowed another person’s possession, the person borrowing took on the full responsibility of keeping the borrowed item safe, Exodus 22:14.
If what had been borrowed was lost or damaged without the owner being present, then the one who borrowed was responsible for restoring what was lost, Exodus 22:14.
Esses, in his commentary, says the following.
‘If you ask your neighbour to lend you something, you are then responsible for seeing that no harm comes to it. If you fail in that responsibility, you must make restitution.’
There were times when animals were not borrowed but hired, and the cost of the hired possession would have been automatically included in the hiring price, Exodus 22:15. In this case, the one who hired the possession didn’t have to repay the cost if it was damaged or lost.
If a man seduces a woman who isn’t married and not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride price, and she shall be his wife, Exodus 22:16. If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride price for virgins, Exodus 22:17.
Because a father expected the marriage of his daughter to bring him a dowry, that ‘the bride price’, Deuteronomy 22:28-29. The seduction of a daughter was considered theft, Deuteronomy 22:23-30.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Among the Hebrews, and among the Arabs today, a woman who has been unchaste has almost no chance of marriage; thus, the seducer, it is here enacted, must marry her, or if the father objects, make good the dowry.’
A sorceress was a person who sought to captivate the minds of others through the practice of magical tricks, which often included the use of drugs. By doing this, they were distracting people’s thinking away from God and His will. It’s because of this that God wanted them out of Israel. They were not permitted to live, Exodus 22:18 / Leviticus 20:27.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Sorcery, or the pretended holding of communications with evil spirits, is a form of idolatry or rebellion against Jehovah, and punished as such.’
Anyone having sexual relations, bestiality, with an animal was seen as evil and not to be tolerated in Israel, Exodus 22:19. Having sexual relations with animals was punishable by death, Leviticus 20:15-16 / Deuteronomy 27:21. Sacrificing to any other god was idolatry and punishable by death, Exodus 22:20 / Exodus 20:3 / Deuteronomy 5:6 / Deuteronomy 13:1-16 / Jeremiah 22:3-5.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Having intercourse with animals (bestiality, Exodus 22:19) was something the Canaanites and Mesopotamians attributed to their gods and which they practised in worshipping those gods. Whereas some law codes imposed the death penalty for having intercourse with certain animals, the Torah prohibited this practice completely.’
Here we read that Israel were to remember that they were foreigners when they were in of Egypt, and so they weren’t mistreated or oppressed by any foreigner who was in the land or who was passing through the land, Exodus 22:21. Notice again how God defends and protects the vulnerable in society, the widows and the fatherless, Exodus 22:22 / James 1:27.
God’s warning against those who would take advantage of the vulnerable is severe; He will get angry, and He will kill them with the sword, and their wives will become widows and their children fatherless, Exodus 22:23-24. As time went by, God’s people neglected this command, which resulted in their widows and orphans as God judged Israel through invading armies.
Rawlinson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It was, in large measure, on account of the neglect of this precept, that the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and destruction of its inhabitants, was allowed to take place, Jeremiah 22:3-5.’
Here we have a law concerning lending to the needy; those who lend are allowed to treat it like a business deal, in other words, they are allowed to charge interest, Exodus 22:25.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is evident that what is here said must be understood of accumulated usury, or what we call compound interest only, and accordingly neshech is mentioned with and distinguished from tarbith and marbith, interest or simple interest, Leviticus 25:36-37 / Proverbs 28:8 / Ezekiel 18:8 / Ezekiel 18:13 / Ezekiel 18:17 / Ezekiel 22:12.’
If a coat were taken as a pledge, it was to be returned before sundown, before the coolness of the night set in, Exodus 22:26 / Amos 2:6 / Amos 4:1 / Deuteronomy 24:6. God promises to hear the cries of the poor because He is compassionate, Exodus 22:27.
Although the N.I.V. uses the word ‘blaspheme’, Exodus 22:28, other translations use the word, ‘revile’, but the principle is the same, God cares how we talk about Him and those He has put us into submission to.
Once a ruler has been assigned, everyone must respect and honour them. The reason for this is simply that it was God who organised leadership and government, Romans 13:1-10.
The first cuttings of the harvest belonged to God, as well as the firstborn of the families and animals, Exodus 22:28-29 / Exodus 13:1-16. The firstborn from the livestock was to remain with the mother so that the mother would be reassured, Exodus 22:30.
On the eighth day, the animal was to be given to the Lord for a sacrifice, Exodus 22:30. God’s people are commanded to act differently from the animals; they are to be holy, Exodus 22:31, that is, set apart. We shouldn’t act and eat certain food as the animals do, Exodus 22:31.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Animal flesh torn in the field before humans ate it was unsuitable for Israelite consumption. Not only might the animal have died from a communicable disease, but second-rate food like this was inappropriate for people set apart to a holy God.’
Remember, they didn’t know back then what we now know today. If an animal was torn, that is, ripped apart by a wild beast, the chances are that the meat would now be infected with some kind of disease from the animal which killed it. God knew of the health risks way before we thought we discovered them.