Laws about the Property of Others

The Book of the Covenant (Ex. 21–23) applies the Ten Commandments to life in ancient Israel, giving the ancient covenant community an understanding of how to keep God’s law in particular situations. In turn, these laws help us apply the Ten Commandments in our own contexts. Today’s passage features several laws that deal with property that we ourselves do not own.

We covered Exodus 22:2–3a in an earlier study, so we will not discuss it here except to say that it endorses lethal force in self-defense if that is the only option to protect innocent life. Verses 1 and 3b–4 give the penalties for theft. The general principle is that the thief must compensate the person whom he wronged for his loss and that the more the theft harms the innocent party, the more there is to repay. Oxen took longer to raise to maturity than sheep and they were vital on Israelite farms, being the animals used to accomplish much of the manual labor required. Thus, a thief had to repay fivefold for stealing an ox but only fourfold for stealing a sheep (v. 1). This penalty was imposed only if the animal actually died while in the possession of the thief. Judges were to reduce the penalty to double the loss when the animal was returned to its owner alive (v. 4). Leviticus 6:1–7 reduces the penalty even further if the thief on his own initiative confesses his crime. Judges in ancient Israel used these guidelines and could apply other penalties in light of the specific circumstances of a theft. But restitution was always required, even from a poor thief (Ex. 22:3b). In calling for restitution, these laws not only proscribed theft but also warned that those who engage in it will lose much of what they do own. Matthew Henry comments, “Fraud and injustice, so far from enriching men, will impoverish them: if we unjustly get and keep that which is another’s, it will not only waste itself, but it will consume that which is our own.”

Exodus 22:5–6 explains what to do when one causes damages to another person’s property by negligence. If one destroyed the crops of another because he did not keep a tight rein on his animals or started a fire without preventing it from spreading, he had to pay restitution to his neighbor. These laws remind us that we are not free of responsibility even if we ourselves are not the direct cause of damages to others. When we are able to but do not take reasonable precautions to keep from damaging the property of others, we are responsible to compensate the owner.