^22:2“If a thief is caught⁵ breaking in⁶ and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him.⁷^22:3If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief⁸ must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. ^22:4If the stolen item should in fact be found⁹ alive in his possession,¹⁰ whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double.¹¹

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Footnotes

5 Heb “found” (so , , ).
6 The word בַּמַּחְתֶּרֶת (bammakhteret) means “digging through” the walls of a house (usually made of mud bricks). The verb is used only a few times and has the meaning of dig in (as into houses) or row hard (as in Jonah 1:13).
7 The text has “there is not to him bloods.” When the word “blood” is put in the plural, it refers to bloodshed, or the price of blood that is shed, i.e., blood guiltiness. This law focuses on what is reasonable defense against burglary. If someone killed a thief who was breaking in during the night, he was not charged because he would not have known it was just a thief, but if it happened during the day, he was guilty of a crime, on the assumption that in daylight the thief posed no threat to the homeowner’s life and could be stopped and made to pay restitution.
8 The words “a thief” have been added for clarification. S. R. Driver (Exodus, ) thinks that these lines are out of order, since some of them deal with killing the thief and then others with the thief making restitution, but rearranging the clauses is not a necessary way to bring clarity to the paragraph. The idea here would be that any thief caught alive would pay restitution.
9 The construction uses a Niphal infinitive absolute and a Niphal imperfect: if it should indeed be found. Gesenius says that in such conditional clauses the infinitive absolute has less emphasis, but instead emphasizes the condition on which some consequence depends (see §113.o).
10 Heb “in his hand.”
11 He must pay back one for what he took, and then one for the penalty—his loss as he was inflicting a loss on someone else.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“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.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

If a thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of bloodshed. But if this happens after sunrise, the householder is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft. If what was stolen—whether ox, donkey, or sheep—is actually found alive in his possession, he must repay double.

NLTNew Living Translation

“If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is struck and killed in the process, the person who killed the thief is not guilty of murder. But if it happens in daylight, the one who killed the thief is guilty of murder.

“A thief who is caught must pay in full for everything he stole. If he cannot pay, he must be sold as a slave to pay for his theft. If someone steals an ox or a donkey or a sheep and it is found in the thief’s possession, then the thief must pay double the value of the stolen animal.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“ ‘If a thief is found in the act of breaking in and he is struck and he dies, there is not bloodguilt for him. (If the sun has risen over him, there is bloodguilt for him. He will make full restitution. If he does not have enough, he will be sold for his theft. If indeed the stolen item is found in his possession alive, from ox to donkey to small livestock, he will make double restitution.

KJV 1900King James Version

If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.

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