Exodus 22

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Exodus 22 is a chapter of case law from the covenant at Sinai. It begins with property: a thief repays fivefold for an ox and fourfold for a sheep; killing a night intruder is not guilt, killing one by daylight is; those whose animals or fires damage a neighbor's field make good the loss; goods left for safekeeping, borrowed, or rented are covered case by case. A man who seduces an unbetrothed girl must pay the bride price. Then come three capital crimes, sorcery, bestiality, and sacrifice to other gods, and then the laws that give the chapter its heart: do not oppress the foreigner, widow, or orphan, do not charge the poor interest, and return a poor man's cloak by sunset, "for I am compassionate."

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Exodus 22 reads like a legal code because it is one, the oldest in the Bible, given to a people who had been slaves a few months earlier and now had to learn to live together. The cases come one after another, each beginning with "if." If a man steals an ox. If a thief is caught breaking in at night. If a fire spreads to a neighbor's grain. If you leave money with a friend and it is stolen from his house. If you borrow a donkey and it dies. The rulings are practical and proportionate: pay back double, or four or five times over, take an oath before the LORD when there are no witnesses, and know that killing an intruder in the dark is self-defense while killing him after sunrise is not. Three capital crimes follow, sorcery, bestiality, and sacrifice to other gods, marking the edges of the covenant. Then the tone changes, and the lawgiver starts to sound like a father. Do not exploit the foreigner; you were foreigners in Egypt. Do not mistreat the widow or the orphan; if they cry to me, I will hear them, and my anger will burn. Do not charge the poor interest. If you take a poor man's cloak as security, give it back before dark, because it is the only blanket he has, and if he cries to me I will hear, for I am compassionate. Ancient law codes from Babylon have rules about oxen and thieves. None of them has God saying that.

Key passages

Exodus 22:1-4 Exodus 22:21-24 Exodus 22:25-27 Exodus 20:22-26 Leviticus 25:35-38 Luke 19:8

Historical and literary context

The chapter is part of the Covenant Code, Exodus 20:22 to 23:33, the oldest collection of Israelite law, given after the Ten Commandments at Sinai. Its "if a man… then" form matches the case law of the ancient Near East, and several of its rules have parallels in the Code of Hammurabi and other Mesopotamian collections, which shows Israel lived in a shared legal world. What sets it apart is its repeated appeal to Israel's own memory, "you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt," and its direct concern for people without protectors. Lending at interest was normal in the ancient world; forbidding it to the poor was not. Zacchaeus's promise to repay fourfold in Luke 19 follows verse 1, and Paul cites verse 28 in Acts 23.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 4 cover theft of livestock and the killing of a burglar. Verses 5 and 6 cover damage by grazing animals and by fire. Verses 7 to 15 cover property entrusted to a neighbor, disputed ownership, animals in another's care, and borrowed or hired animals. Verses 16 and 17 cover the seduction of an unbetrothed virgin. Verses 18 to 20 list three capital offenses. Verses 21 to 27 protect the foreign resident, the widow, the orphan, and the poor borrower, with God's own promise to hear their cry. Verses 28 to 31 close with reverence for God and rulers, the offering of firstfruits and firstborn, and the call to be a holy people.

Why this chapter matters

Exodus 22 is where the Bible's concern for the poor first becomes law. The prohibition on interest to the poor shaped Jewish and Christian teaching on usury for three thousand years, the cloak returned by sunset is the classic image of mercy limiting a creditor's rights, and "you were foreigners in Egypt" is the biblical foundation of the ethic of hospitality to immigrants. The chapter's principle of restitution, making the victim whole and then some, rather than imprisonment, has influenced modern ideas of restorative justice. The distinction between killing a night intruder and a daytime one is an early statement of proportionality in self-defense.

Interpretive tension to watch

Verse 18, "You must not allow a sorceress to live," was used to justify witch trials in Europe and America, a history that hangs over the chapter. Verses 18 to 20, and the selling of a penniless thief into servitude in verse 3, raise the broader question of how Christians read Israel's civil law: as binding, as expired with the old covenant, or as a window onto God's priorities whose principles still apply. The seduction law of verses 16 and 17 protects the girl's economic future in its own setting, but reads harshly today. The chapter also mixes property rules, sexual ethics, worship, and welfare without headings, and readers must decide how the parts illuminate each other.

Questions for this chapter

  • The thief repays four or five times what he took. How does restitution differ from punishment, and what does each do for the victim?
  • God says of the widow and the orphan, "I will surely hear their cry." What does it mean that God takes the side of people without protectors?
  • The cloak must be returned at sunset even though it was lawfully taken. When should mercy limit a legal right?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Add to Notes
1 If a man takes without right another man's ox or his sheep, and puts it to death or gets a price for it, he is to give five oxen for an ox, or four sheep for a sheep, in payment: the thief will have to make payment for what he has taken; if he has no money, he himself will have to be exchanged for money, so that payment may be made. 2 If a thief is taken in the act of forcing his way into a house, and his death is caused by a blow, the owner of the house is not responsible for his blood. 3 But if it is after dawn, he will be responsible. 4 If he still has what he had taken, whatever it is, ox or ass or sheep, he is to give twice its value. 5 If a man makes a fire in a field or a vine-garden, and lets the fire do damage to another man's field, he is to give of the best produce of his field or his vine-garden to make up for it. 6 If there is a fire and the flames get to the thorns at the edge of the field, causing destruction of the cut grain or of the living grain, or of the field, he who made the fire will have to make up for the damage. 7 If a man puts money or goods in the care of his neighbour to keep for him, and it is taken from the man's house, if they get the thief, he will have to make payment of twice the value. 8 If they do not get the thief, let the master of the house come before the judges and take an oath that he has not put his hand on his neighbour's goods. 9 In any question about an ox or an ass or a sheep or clothing, or about the loss of any property which anyone says is his, let the two sides put their cause before God; and he who is judged to be in the wrong is to make payment to his neighbour of twice the value. 10 If a man puts an ass or an ox or a sheep or any beast into the keeping of his neighbour, and it comes to death or is damaged or is taken away, without any person seeing it: 11 If he takes his oath before the Lord that he has not put his hand to his neighbour's goods, the owner is to take his word for it and he will not have to make payment for it. 12 But if it is taken from him by a thief, he is to make up for the loss of it to its owner. 13 But if it has been damaged by a beast, and he is able to make this clear, he will not have to make payment for what was damaged. 14 If a man gets from his neighbour the use of one of his beasts, and it is damaged or put to death when the owner is not with it, he will certainly have to make payment for the loss. 15 If the owner is with it, he will not have to make payment: if he gave money for the use of it, the loss is covered by the payment. 16 If a man takes a virgin, who has not given her word to another man, and has connection with her, he will have to give a bride-price for her to be his wife. 17 If her father will not give her to him on any account, he will have to give the regular payment for virgins. 18 Any woman using unnatural powers or secret arts is to be put to death. 19 Any man who has sex connection with a beast is to be put to death. 20 Complete destruction will come on any man who makes offerings to any other god but the Lord. 21 Do no wrong to a man from a strange country, and do not be hard on him; for you yourselves were living in a strange country, in the land of Egypt. 22 Do no wrong to a widow, or to a child whose father is dead. 23 If you are cruel to them in any way, and their cry comes up to me, I will certainly give ear; 24 And in the heat of my wrath I will put you to death with the sword, so that your wives will be widows and your children without fathers. 25 If you let any of the poor among my people have the use of your money, do not be a hard creditor to him, and do not take interest. 26 If ever you take your neighbour's clothing in exchange for the use of your money, let him have it back before the sun goes down: 27 For it is the only thing he has for covering his skin; what is he to go to sleep in? and when his cry comes up to me, I will give ear, for my mercy is great. 28 You may not say evil of the judges, or put a curse on the ruler of your people. 29 Do not keep back your offerings from the wealth of your grain and your vines. The first of your sons you are to give to me. 30 In the same way with your oxen and your sheep: for seven days let the young one be with its mother; on the eighth day give it to me. 31 You are to be holy men to me: the flesh of no animal whose death has been caused by the beasts of the field may be used for your food; it is to be given to the dogs.

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