YHWH Really Hates Thieves

July 18, 2009, 9:23 am by dc-agape.

Exodus 22:1-15

This entire section is about how to treat the possibility of theft.  Most of these rules are for the retribution for the loss of livestock or fruits of the soil.  Oddly the only person considered innocent in these cases is the actual owner.  Anyone who borrows or takes care of another person’s property is under automatic suspicion.  Again, these laws cover a number of situations, and I will attempt to make them as organized as possible.

The case of stolen, killed, or lost livestock the laws are specific.  A person who steals must pay the penalty of either 4 or 5 times the number of animals stolen, depending on whether it was an ox or sheep.  Thief of cattle or donkeys is not documented here.  Oddly we have two different punishments for the same crime in this chapter.  If the thief is found with the animals they only have to pay double.  If the animal(s) are not in the possession of the thief, how exactly do you prove that person was the thief?  Nowhere in this section is there a word about testimony.  Whose testimony is trusted?  How many people have to collaborate a testimony before it is valid? 

In the case of safekeeping or borrowing the owner is always trusted.  In the case of loss of livestock life during safekeeping, if the non-owner makes an oath before YHWH that they were not responsible, all is forgiven.  But in the case of livestock being stolen, the non-owner must pay for the lost animal.  In the case of borrowing, if the owner is not present, it is the borrower who must pay for the animal.  No other option is permissible.  If on the other hand the owner was present, and the animal dies, no one pays a penalty.  There is a secondary case where the death of an animal occurs during “renting” the animal.  In this case, if the animal dies the money paid for using the animal is enough to cover the penalty.

Two conditions about the fruit of the soil are described in this section as well.  These are grazing upon others fields and fires that spread to others property.  In the case where livestock graze on someone else property, the owner of the grazing animal must pay restitution from his best harvest.  This seems rather arbitrary.  What if one farmer is much better than the other?  Equal value is not taken into account here.  The second situation is where fire spreads to someone else property.  Whoever is responsible for starting the fire must pay restitution.

All this payment of restitution and penalties leads to a very specific result.  YHWH has included a law that if someone cannot pay the bill, that person will be sold into slavery.  So not only does YHWH condone slavery he uses it as punishment!  Why are we breaking the law of YHWH?  Should we not still be following his commandments?  How did we get to pick and choice which of YHWH’s laws we can ignore?

The final topic from this section is about catching a thief breaking into someone’s property.  This is a favored one by most Good Old Southern Boys and the NRA.  The defender is innocent of bloodshed, with a caveat that is forgotten by today’s standards.  Between sunrise and sunset it is still considered murder!  Only at night can one murder an intruder.  Odd how this little caveat is left out by the Traditions of Men!

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