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Êxodo 22

ARC · Chapter 22/40

1Se alguem furtar boi ou ovelha, e o degolar ou vender, por um boi pagará cinco bois, e pela ovelha quatro ovelhas.

2Se o ladrão fôr achado na mina, e fôr ferido, e morrer, o que o feriu não será culpado do sangue.

3Se o sol houver saido sobre elle, será culpado do sangue: totalmente o restituirá: e se não tiver com que pagar, será vendido por seu furto.

4Se o furto fôr achado vivo na sua mão, seja boi, ou jumento, ou ovelha, pagará o dobro.

5Se alguem fizer pastar n'um campo ou n'uma vinha, e largar a sua besta, para comer no campo de outro, o melhor do seu proprio campo e o melhor da sua propria vinha restituirá.

6Se arrebentar um fogo, e prender os espinhos, e abrazar a meda de trigo, ou a seara, ou o campo, aquelle que accendeu o fogo totalmente pagará o queimado.

7Se alguem der prata, os vasos ao seu proximo a guardar, e fôr furtado da casa d'aquelle homem, se o ladrão se achar, pagará o dobro.

8Se o ladrão não se achar, então o dono da casa será levado diante dos juizes, a ver se não metteu a sua mão na fazenda do seu proximo.

9Sobre todo o negocio de injustiça, sobre boi, sobre jumento, sobre gado miudo, sobre vestido, sobre toda a coisa perdida, de que alguem disser que é sua a causa de ambos virá perante os juizes, aquelle a quem condemnarem os juizes o pagará em dobro ao seu proximo.

10Se alguem der a seu proximo a guardar um jumento, ou boi, ou ovelha, ou alguma besta, e morrer, ou fôr dilacerado, ou afugentado, ninguem o vendo,

11Então haverá juramento do Senhor entre ambos, que não metteu a sua mão na fazenda do seu proximo: e seu dono o acceitará, e o outro não o restituirá.

12Mas se lhe fôr furtado, o pagará ao seu dono.

13Porém se lhe fôr dilacerado, tral-o-ha em testemunho d'isso, e não pagará o dilacerado.

14E se alguem a seu proximo pedir alguma coisa, e fôr damnificada ou morta, não estando presente o seu dono, certamente a restituirá.

15Se o seu dono esteve presente, não a restituirá: se foi alugada, será pelo seu aluguer.

16Se alguem enganar alguma virgem, que não fôr desposada, e se deitar com ella, certamente a dotará por sua mulher.

17Se seu pae inteiramente recusar dar-lh'a, dará dinheiro conforme ao dote das virgens.

18A feiticeira não deixarás viver.

19Todo aquelle que se deitar com animal, certamente morrerá.

20O que sacrificar aos deuses, e não só ao Senhor, será morto.

21O estrangeiro não affligirás, nem o opprimirás; pois estrangeiros fostes na terra do Egypto.

22A nenhuma viuva nem orphão affligireis.

23Se de alguma maneira os affligires, e elles clamarem a mim, eu certamente ouvirei o seu clamor,

24E a minha ira se accenderá, e vos matarei á espada; e vossas mulheres ficarão viuvas, e vossos filhos orphãos.

25Se emprestares dinheiro ao meu povo, ao pobre que está comtigo, não te haverás com elle como um usurario; não lhe imporeis usura.

26Se tomares em penhor o vestido do teu proximo, lh'o restituirás antes do pôr do sol,

27Porque aquella é a sua cobertura, e o vestido da sua pelle; em que se deitaria? será pois que, quando clamar a mim, eu o ouvirei, porque sou misericordioso.

28Os juizes não amaldiçoarás, e o principe d'entre o teu povo não maldirás.

29As tuas primicias, e os teus licores não dilatarás: o primogenito de teus filhos me darás.

30Assim farás dos teus bois e das tuas ovelhas: sete dias estarão com sua mãe, e ao oitavo dia m'os darás.

31E ser-me-heis homens sanctos; portanto não comereis carne despedaçada no campo: aos cães a lançareis.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The laws of the Book of the Covenant continue, addressing theft, restitution for damages, liability over borrowed property, as well as protections for foreigners, widows, orphans, and the poor.

Explanation

This chapter expands Israel's legal code to cover matters of property, restitution, and social protection, reflecting a deep concern for practical justice in the community's daily life. The laws of restitution for theft (requiring multiple repayment of the stolen value) sought to discourage crime through significant financial consequences, while also setting clear limits on how far self-defense against a thief could go without becoming unjustified homicide. A notable highlight is the explicit protection given to foreigners, widows, and orphans — vulnerable groups who could easily be exploited in an ancient society — with God promising to personally hear the cry of those who were mistreated. The prohibition against charging interest on loans to the poor within the community (v. 25) shows an economic concern not to further burden those already facing financial hardship, a principle of social justice advanced for its time.

Fun facts

  • The protection of foreigners in this chapter is explicitly justified by Israel's own historical experience ('for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt', v. 21) — one of the earliest biblical examples of using the memory of one's own suffering as ethical motivation for treating others well.
  • The prohibition against charging interest on loans to the poor (v. 25) would become a central economic principle in Mosaic Law, discussed extensively in later books such as Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and would influence ethical and religious debates about usury centuries later in the Middle Ages.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 22:1Sets a much larger penalty for stealing an animal that has already been killed or sold than for stealing one still alive, which is addressed in the next verse.
  2. Êxodo 22:2“Breaking up” means during a break-in of the house, at night, in the dark — the contrast comes in the next verse, “if the sun be risen upon him.” If the homeowner killed the thief during that nighttime break-in, it was not considered murder, because at night there was no way to know whether the intruder only meant to steal or also to kill. By day, with the thief already identifiable, killing him became a crime.
  3. Êxodo 22:3If the thief killed during a break-in was killed by day, when he could already be identified, killing him counted as a crime, requiring full restitution for the theft.
  4. Êxodo 22:4If the stolen animal was found still alive in the thief’s possession, the penalty was lighter: double the value, not the larger multiples set in the first verse.
  5. Êxodo 22:5Addresses damage caused by a loose animal grazing in someone else’s field: the animal’s owner had to compensate with the best produce of his own land.
  6. Êxodo 22:6Regulates the case of a fire that spreads and destroys someone else’s crop: whoever started the fire was responsible for the entire loss caused.
  7. Êxodo 22:7Addresses valuables left in someone else’s keeping and then stolen: if the thief was identified, he paid double the value stolen.
  8. Êxodo 22:8If the thief was not found, the keeper of the goods himself had to appear before the judges to prove that he had not kept the items for himself.
  9. Êxodo 22:9Establishes a general principle for property disputes with no clear resolution: the judges decide, and whoever is found guilty pays double the value in dispute.
  10. Êxodo 22:10Addresses animals left in someone else’s care that die, are injured, or disappear with no witnesses, opening up the solution detailed in the next verse.
  11. Êxodo 22:11In these cases with no witness, an oath before God was enough to settle the dispute, trusting the keeper’s word about his own innocence.
  12. Êxodo 22:12If, however, the animal had in fact been stolen while in someone else’s care, the keeper was required to compensate the owner.
  13. Êxodo 22:13If the animal had been killed by a predator, the keeper only needed to present the remains as proof, without having to pay for the loss.
  14. Êxodo 22:14Addresses borrowed items that are damaged or die while the original owner is absent: whoever borrowed them is responsible for compensation.
  15. Êxodo 22:15If the owner was present when the damage happened, or if the item had been rented, the loss was already covered by the rental fee itself.
  16. Êxodo 22:16In the ancient world, an unmarried woman who had relations before marriage lost much of her chance of marrying afterward, leaving her socially and economically vulnerable. That is why the law required the man to marry her and pay the agreed dowry, securing her support; the next verse shows that her father could still refuse that marriage.
  17. Êxodo 22:17If the young woman’s father refused to allow the marriage described in the previous verse, the man still had to pay the amount equal to the usual dowry.
  18. Êxodo 22:18Sorcery was associated with the rituals of Israel’s neighboring nations, seen as a threat to the people’s faithfulness to their God. The penalty set here reflects how much weight these laws gave to keeping the people separate from such practices; it is a law from the context of ancient Israel, not guidance on how to treat someone today.
  19. Êxodo 22:19This law condemns to death anyone who had sexual relations with an animal, treated in the laws of the Old Testament as a grave violation of the order of creation. It appears alongside other laws on sexual and religious purity that set Israel apart from the customs of the surrounding nations.
  20. Êxodo 22:20Forbids any sacrifice to gods other than the LORD, treating that practice with the same gravity as a capital crime within the Israelite community.
  21. Êxodo 22:21Forbids mistreating foreigners, directly recalling Israel’s own experience as an oppressed foreigner in Egypt, a moral basis used several times in the law.
  22. Êxodo 22:22Extends this special protection to widows and orphans, the most vulnerable groups in ancient society, lacking the traditional protection of family.
  23. Êxodo 22:23Warns that God Himself will hear the cry of anyone mistreated this way, treating the oppression of the vulnerable as a direct offense against Him.
  24. Êxodo 22:24The threatened punishment is severe: the oppressors themselves would risk dying, leaving their own families in the same vulnerable situation they had caused.
  25. Êxodo 22:25“Usury” here means charging interest on a loan. The law forbids charging interest to a poor Israelite who needed to borrow money, because that kind of loan was meant to be help between neighbors, not a business for profiting off someone’s need.
  26. Êxodo 22:26If someone took another person’s garment as security for a loan, the law required returning it before nightfall, since it was often the only covering the person had.
  27. Êxodo 22:27Explains the human reason behind the previous rule: without that garment, the person would be cold at night, and God promises to hear the cry of anyone treated this way.
  28. Êxodo 22:28Forbids publicly insulting both judges and political leaders, protecting the authority of the institutions responsible for justice in Israel.
  29. Êxodo 22:29“Firstfruits” are the first crops of the harvest, offered to God before any other use. The part about the firstborn of sons does not mean human sacrifice: the biblical text itself, later in 34:20, explains that the human firstborn had to be redeemed, that is, an offering was given in his place.
  30. Êxodo 22:30Determines that the firstborn of animals should only be offered to God after spending a full week with their own mother.
  31. Êxodo 22:31This concerns the meat of an animal found already dead or torn by another animal in the field, without having been slaughtered in the ritual way, with the blood properly drained. That is why this meat was considered unfit for the people to eat and had to be discarded.

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