Exodus 22:3

Exodus 22:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

Context of Exodus 22:3

1Perhaps someone may take another person's cow or sheep for himself. He may kill it or he may sell it. As punishment, he must pay the owner five cows for each cow that he has taken. He must pay four sheep for each sheep that he has taken. 2Perhaps someone may catch a robber as he goes into another person's house. The owner of the house might knock down the robber so that he dies. If this happens at night, the owner of the house is not guilty of murder. But if the owner of the house kills the robber after sunrise, he is guilty of murder. Anyone who takes something that belongs to someone else must pay back the owner. If he cannot pay for everything that he has taken, he must become a slave. The owner will receive the money that someone has paid for the slave. 4You may find an animal that someone has taken for himself. If the animal is still alive, the person who took it must pay back to the owner twice its value. He must do this, whether it was a cow, a donkey, or a sheep. 5A man's animals might go into someone else's field or vineyard to eat what is growing there. Then the owner of those animals must pay back the value of what they have eaten. He must give his best grain and his best grapes to pay back the other man.

Exodus 22:3 word by word

אִם־זָרְחָ֥ה הַשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ עָלָ֖יו דָּמִ֣ים ל֑וֹ שַׁלֵּ֣ם יְשַׁלֵּ֔ם אִם־אֵ֣ין ל֔וֹ וְנִמְכַּ֖ר בִּגְנֵבָתֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• be risenזָרַחzârach · to riseH2224
• bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• he should make fullשָׁלֵםshâlam · to completeH7999
• if he have nothing, then he shall be soldמָכַרmâkar · to sellH4376
• for his theftגְּנֵבָהgenêbâh · theftH1591

Cross-references for Exodus 22:3

• Exodus 21:2If you buy an Israelite slave, he must work for you for six years. But in the seventh year he will become a free man. He can leave you. He does not have to pay you any money.
• Judges 2:14The Lord was very angry with the Israelites and he punished them. He sent robbers to attack them and take their animals and their food. He put them under the power of their enemies who lived around them. They were not strong enough to fight against their enemies.
• Judges 10:7The Lord became angry with the Israelites. He put them under the power of the Ammonites and the Philistines.
• Isaiah 50:1This is what the Lord says to his people: ‘Did I send your mother away, like a man sends away his wife? Where is the paper to say why I have sent her away? Did I sell you to pay people that I was in debt to? Where is the paper that shows the reason for my debt? Listen! I sold you because of your sins. I sent your mother away because you have not obeyed me.

Commentaries on Exodus 22:3

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2-4Verses 2-4 If a thief, in breaking into a dwelling in the night, was slain, the person who slew him did not incur the guilt of blood; but if the same occurred in daylight, the slayer was guilty in accordance with Exodus 21:12. The distinction may have been based on the fact that in the light of day there was a fair chance of identifying and apprehending the thief.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-15In cases involving loss of property, the responsible person had to pay compensation equal to the value of what was lost. If the person had actually stolen the property, the compensation was multiplied (22:1, 4, 7). Where there was a question of responsibility, the parties were to appear before God for adjudication (22:8). The means by which the judgment was reached is not reported.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-311-4. If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep--The law respects the theft of cattle which constituted the chief part of their property. The penalty for the theft of a sheep which was slain or sold, was fourfold; for an ox fivefold, because of its greater utility in labor; but, should the stolen animal have been recovered alive, a double compensation was all that was required, because it was presumable he (the thief) was not a practised adept in dishonesty…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 22:3

• Animals
• Bullock
• Restitution
• Servant
• Theft and Thieves

In the dictionaries

• Book
• Cause
• Curse
• Feed
• God
• Put
• Restore
• Revile
• Theft
• Torn

Commentaries on Exodus 22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings