Bible Strands
Exodus 22:7
If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text delivers civil case law to the Israelite community during the Sinai covenant administration, positioned directly between statutes on accidental fire damage and procedures for unproven theft.
The words — כֶּסֶף (Kesef) translates to money, and כֵלִים (kelim) translates to articles or goods, specifying the exact categories of property subject to the safekeeping regulation.
The thread — The double restitution penalty parallels Exodus 22:4, which mandates the same penalty for stolen livestock found alive in the thief’s possession. The motif of a thief’s shame upon capture is echoed in Jeremiah 2:26.
Why it lands — The passage establishes strict financial liability for entrusted property and defines the judicial threshold for determining guilt when a thief cannot be located.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.
Cross-references
- Exodus 22:4 If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double.
- Proverbs 6:30 Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.
- Jeremiah 2:26 As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets
- John 12:6 Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it.
- 1 Corinthians 6:10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.