#981 - Exodus 22 – Laws About Property

Exodus twenty-two.

This time we get property laws.

Protection of property.

Whoever steals an ox or sheep and slaughters it and sells it must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.

If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.

But if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed.

Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft.

If the stolen animal is found alive in their possession, whether ox or donkey or sheep, they must pay back double.

If anyone grazes their livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in someone else's field, the offender must make restitution from the best of their own field or vineyard.

If a fire breaks out and spreads into thorn bushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.

If anyone gives a neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor's house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.

But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges, and they must determine whether the owner of the house has laid hands on the other person's property.

In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which someone says, "This is mine," both parties are to bring their cases before the judges.

The one whom the judges declare guilty must pay back double to the other.

If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to their neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, the issue between them will be settled by taking an oath before the Lord that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person's property.

The owner is to accept this and no restitution is required.

But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, restitution must be made to the owner.

If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, the neighbor shall bring in the remnants as evidence and shall not be required to pay for the torn animal.

If anyone borrows an animal from the neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, they must make restitution.

But if the owner is with the animal, the borrower will not have to pay.

If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss.

Okay, so notice when we talk about property laws, we're talking about a people who right now have no land, no buildings, and what they have is sheep and goats and oxen cattle.

So most of the property laws here are applying to those things, which is what they need right now.

Although the vineyard thing, we're gonna get to that, right? We're gonna get to the promised land, and then we'll have to worry about the vineyard and the fields and those things.

But first they need to know what, what happens if I want to breed my bull and I borrow your cow, or, or I wanna breed my cow and I borrow your bull, and the, you know, the bull dies, and all of those sorts of deals.