New King James Version
Exodus 22:2
2If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.
Exodus 22:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
- New International Version (NIV)“If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed;
- English Standard Version (ESV)If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him,
- New Living Translation (NLT)“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.
Context of Exodus 22:2
1“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. 3If 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. 4If the theft is certainly found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall restore double.
Read all of Exodus 22Exodus 22:2 word by word
אִם־בַּמַּחְתֶּ֛רֶת יִמָּצֵ֥א הַגַּנָּ֖ב וְהֻכָּ֣ה וָמֵ֑ת אֵ֥ין ל֖וֹ דָּמִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 22:2
- Job 24:14The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; And in the night he is like a thief.
- Job 30:5They were driven out from among men, They shouted at them as at a thief.
- Hosea 7:1“When I would have healed Israel, Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, And the wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud; A thief comes in; A band of robbers takes spoil outside.
- Joel 2:9They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief.
- Matthew 6:19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
- Matthew 24:43But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
- Numbers 35:27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood,
Commentaries on Exodus 22:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2If a thief be found - If a thief was found breaking into a house in the night season, he might be killed; but not if the sun had risen, for then he might be known and taken, and the restitution made which is mentioned in the succeeding verse. So by the law of England it is a burglary to break and enter a house by night; and "anciently the day was accounted to begin only from sunrising, and to end immediately upon sunset: but it is now generally agreed…Read the comment
- 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 22:2
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries