Exodus 22:1 Made Simple

KJV ORIGINAL

If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

Close to the original. Clear modern English.

✦ MADE SIMPLE

If someone steals an ox or a sheep and then kills it or sells it, they must pay back five oxen for each ox stolen, and four sheep for each sheep stolen.

⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE

This verse establishes that stealing livestock requires paying back much more than what was taken - showing that theft has serious consequences.

📚 Historical Context

This law was given to the Israelites as part of God's civil laws after they left Egypt. In ancient agricultural societies, livestock like oxen and sheep were extremely valuable - oxen were essential for plowing fields and sheep provided wool, milk, and meat. The harsh penalty reflected how devastating livestock theft could be to a family's survival and livelihood.

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Exodus 22:7

If someone gives their neighbor money or belongings to keep safe, and those things are stolen from the neighbor's house, then if the thief is caught, he must pay back double what he stole.

1 Kings 21:19

You will speak to him and say, 'This is what the LORD says: Have you murdered someone and then stolen their property?' Then you will say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: In the same place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your blood too.'

Job 20:19

Because he has crushed and abandoned the poor; because he has forcefully stolen a house that he did not build;

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