Exodus 22
Laws about Property
1 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep.
Israel had been enslaved for the last 400 years. They did not know how to establish a godly government. Therefore, King Jehovah established a theocracy. He gave the nation of Israel a divine set of laws. When Christ was crucified and resurrected for the atonement of sins, all of these laws were inoperative. However, these laws reveal the mind of God. If nations would use many of these laws today, it would solve many societal problems.
If a man is guilty of theft, then he must pay back restitution.
2 “If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him.
The killer was guiltless, because his life was in danger. This was a matter of self-defense. The Mosaic Law did not take away weapons. Citizens were given the right to defend themselves.
3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft.
If a day has passed and the thief is caught, then he must make full restitution or be sold into slavery to pay for the damages.
4 If the stolen item should in fact be found alive in his possession, whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double.
If the stolen animals were still alive, then the thief was to pay double restitution,
5 “If a man grazes his livestock in a field or a vineyard, and he lets the livestock loose and they graze in the field of another man, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
If livestock grazed into a vineyard and ate the produce, then the owner of the livestock must make full restitution. The owner was responsible for controlling his flock.
6 “If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who started the fire must surely make restitution.
If a field is burned down, then the one who started the fire must make restitution.
7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles for safekeeping, and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he must repay double.
If a man loaned money or articles to another person and it was stolen, then they must pay double restitution.
8 If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges to see whether he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods.
If the thief was not caught, then the court would decide the case. The court usually sat at the city gates.
9 In all cases of illegal possessions, whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, and the one whom the judges declare guilty must repay double to his neighbor.
The civil court at the city gate would decide the case.
10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt or is carried away without anyone seeing it 11 then there will be an oath to the Lord between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay.
If a man loaned an animal to a neighbor and it was stolen, injured, or dies, then an oath to God would clear the innocent man.
12 But if it was stolen from him, he will pay its owner.
If the flock was stolen, then restitution must be paid.
13 If it is torn in pieces, then he will bring it for evidence, and he will not have to pay for what was torn.
If the borrower can prove that the animal was torn to pieces, then no restitution was required. Much of Israel was agricultural and nomadic, so many of these laws protect farmers and shepherds.
14 “If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it will surely pay.
If a man borrowed an animal and it was injured or if it died, then the borrower must pay restitution.
15 If its owner was with it, he will not have to pay; if it was hired, what was paid for the hire covers it.
If the owner was with the animal, then the owner was responsible.
Moral and Ceremonial Laws
16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and has sexual relations with her, he must surely endow her to be his wife.
If a man seduces a virgin, then he must marry her.
17 If her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay money for the bride price of virgins.
If the father refuses the marriage, then the seducer must pay the bridal price. The father was responsible for protecting his daughter from a bad husband.
18 “You must not allow a sorceress to live.
The Hebrew word for “sorceress” is כָּשַׁף (nashaf). A sorceress was one who used potions to contact evil spirits. These potions were hallucinogenic drugs. They were used to place the user in a hypnotic state. Once the user was placed in this hypnotic state, then demons could disguise themselves as “gods” and easily influence the user to follow the will of the demon.
The modern sorceress today is the drug dealer who sells drugs to naive teenagers who are not grounded in the Word of God. The Mosaic penalty for selling drugs was execution by stoning. Drug dealers today are sentenced to short imprisonment and then allowed to receive early pardon. Then, they go back on the streets, looking for more victims. Soft and ungodly laws place the children of a nation at risk.
19 “Whoever has sexual relations with a beast must surely be put to death.
The Canaanites were having sex with animals as a religious ritual in order to gain power from their gods. Israel was not to adopt these practices.
20 “Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.
The Hebrew word for “utterly destroy” is חָרַם (herem), meaning to be devoted to God for destruction. Every Canaanite man, woman, child, and animal will fall under the חָרַם (herem) curse. They will be exterminated from the land of Canaan.
21 “You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Jehovah protected foreigners, because the Jews were foreigners in Egypt.
22 “You must not afflict any widow or orphan.
In other cultures, widows were burnt to death or buried when their husbands died. Orphans were committed to slavery. Jehovah protected the widows and the orphans.
23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry,
If a widow or orphan was mistreated and called out to Jehovah, then He would hear their cry. Widows and orphans received special divine protection from Jehovah Himself.
24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.
If Israel did not take care of her widows and orphans, then Jehovah would send foreign soldiers to Israel who would kill these ungodly men. This divine act would cause the families of these ungodly men to become widows and orphans as well.
25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest.
Jews could charge interest to Gentiles, but not to fellow Jews.
26 If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down,
The garment was a blanket at night. Jehovah did not want the one in debt to freeze at night.
27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
Jehovah is gracious, meaning that He is a nice God who likes to give. If any money-hungry businessman took a blanket from one in debt and refused to give it back at night, then God would personally get involved and punish the lender.
28 “You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.
The name of God and the name of rulers were to be protected. The name of God is blasphemed in much of the modern media and literature of today. Christians should pray for their leaders, especially if they are evil.
Believers should never curse their leaders. This means that modern believers should not make derogatory comments about their governmental leaders. They can question their ungodly policies, but they are not to curse the leaders. They are to pray that either God will change them or remove them from power.
29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. You must give me the firstborn of your sons.
Israel was to pay their agricultural tithes. They were to dedicate their firstborn sons to Jehovah. This dedication of the firstborn was done by offerings.
30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.
The firstborn of animals was also to be offered to Jehovah. Israel would have to show their love and trust of Jehovah by giving up much of their flock to Jehovah in sacrifice.
31 “You will be holy people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. You must throw it to the dogs.
Israel was to be a holy people set apart for God’s holy purpose. They were not to eat meat torn by other animals, such as lions. This type of meat was unclean. It was to be thrown to the dogs.