Éxodo 22

VBL · Chapter 22/40

1“Quien robe un buey o una oveja y la mate o la venda, deberá devolver cinco bueyes por un buey y cuatro ovejas por una oveja.

2“Si se descubre a un ladrón entrando en la casa de alguien y es golpeado hasta la muerte, nadie será culpable de asesinato.

3Pero si ocurre durante el día, entonces alguien es culpable de asesinato. El ladrón debe devolver todo lo robado. Si no tiene nada, entonces debe ser vendido para pagar lo que fue robado.

4Si lo que fue robado es un animal vivo que todavía tiene, ya sea un buey, un asno o una oveja, debe devolver el doble.

5“Si el ganado pasta en un campo o en un viñedo y su dueño lo deja vagar para que pasten en el campo de otro, el dueño debe pagar una compensación con lo mejor de sus propios campos o viñedos.

6“Si se inicia un incendio que se extiende a los arbustos espinosos y luego quema el grano apilado o en pie, o incluso todo el campo, la persona que inició el fuego debe pagar una compensación completa.

7“Si alguien le da a su vecino dinero o posesiones para que las guarde y se las roban de la casa del vecino, si el ladrón es atrapado debe pagar el doble.

8Si el ladrón no es atrapado, el propietario de la casa debe comparecer ante los jueces para averiguar si se llevó la propiedad de su vecino.

9“Si hay una discusión sobre la propiedad de un buey, un asno, una oveja, una prenda de vestir, o cualquier cosa que se haya perdido y alguien dice: ‘Esto es mío’, ambas partes deben llevar su caso ante los jueces. Aquel al que los jueces encuentren culpable debe devolverle el doble al otro.

10“Si alguien pide a un vecino que cuide un asno, un buey, una oveja o cualquier otro animal, pero éste muere o se lesiona o es robado sin que nadie se dé cuenta,

11entonces se debe prestar un juramento ante el Señor para decidir si el vecino ha tomado la propiedad del dueño. El propietario debe aceptar el juramento y no exigir una compensación.

12“Sin embargo, si el animal fue realmente robado al vecino, debe compensar al propietario.

13Si fue matado y despedazado por un animal salvaje, el vecino deberá presentar el cadáver como prueba y no necesita pagar indemnización.

14“Si alguien toma prestado un animal del vecino y éste resulta herido o muere mientras su dueño no está presente, debe pagar una indemnización en su totalidad.

15Si el propietario estaba presente, no se pagará ninguna compensación. Si el animal fue alquilado, sólo se debe pagar el precio del alquiler.

16“Si un hombre seduce a una virgen no comprometida para casarse y se acuesta con ella, debe pagar el precio completo de la novia para que se convierta en su esposa.

17Si el padre de ella se niega rotundamente a dársela, el hombre debe pagar la misma cantidad que el precio de la novia por una virgen.

18“No se debe permitir que viva una mujer que practique la brujería.

19“Todo aquel que tenga relaciones sexuales con un animal debe ser ejecutado.

20“Cualquiera que se sacrifique a cualquier otro dios que no sea el Señor debe ser apartado y ejecutado.

21“No se debe explotar o maltratar a un extranjero. Recuerden que ustedes mismos fueron una vez extranjeros en Egipto.

22“No se aprovechen de ninguna viuda o huérfano.

23Si los maltratan, y ellos me piden ayuda, responderé a su clamor.

24Me enfadaré y mataré a quien se aproveche de ellos con espada. Entonces sus esposas se convertirán en viudas y sus hijos quedarán huérfanos.

25“Si le prestas dinero a mi pueblo porque son pobres, no te comportes como un prestamista con ellos. No debes cobrarles ningún interés.

26“Si necesitas la capa de tu vecino como garantía de un préstamo, debes devolvérsela antes de la puesta de sol,

27porque es la única ropa que tiene para su cuerpo. ¿De otro modo, con qué dormirá? Y si me pide ayuda, le escucharé, porque soy misericordioso.

28“No desprecies a Dios ni maldigas al líder de tu pueblo.

29“No retengas las ofrendas requeridas de tus productos, aceite de oliva y vino. Debes darme el primogénito de tus hijos.

30También debes darme el primogénito de tus vacas, ovejas y cabras. Podrás dejarlos con sus madres durante los primeros siete días, pero debes darmelos al octavo día.

31“Ustedes deben ser un pueblo santo para mí. No coman ningún cadáver de animal que encuentren en el campo y que haya sido asesinado por animales salvajes. Láncenlos a los perros para que se lo coman”.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The laws of the Book of the Covenant continue, addressing theft, restitution for damages, liability over borrowed property, as well as protections for foreigners, widows, orphans, and the poor.

Explanation

This chapter expands Israel's legal code to cover matters of property, restitution, and social protection, reflecting a deep concern for practical justice in the community's daily life. The laws of restitution for theft (requiring multiple repayment of the stolen value) sought to discourage crime through significant financial consequences, while also setting clear limits on how far self-defense against a thief could go without becoming unjustified homicide. A notable highlight is the explicit protection given to foreigners, widows, and orphans — vulnerable groups who could easily be exploited in an ancient society — with God promising to personally hear the cry of those who were mistreated. The prohibition against charging interest on loans to the poor within the community (v. 25) shows an economic concern not to further burden those already facing financial hardship, a principle of social justice advanced for its time.

Fun facts

  • The protection of foreigners in this chapter is explicitly justified by Israel's own historical experience ('for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt', v. 21) — one of the earliest biblical examples of using the memory of one's own suffering as ethical motivation for treating others well.
  • The prohibition against charging interest on loans to the poor (v. 25) would become a central economic principle in Mosaic Law, discussed extensively in later books such as Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and would influence ethical and religious debates about usury centuries later in the Middle Ages.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Éxodo 22:1Sets a much larger penalty for stealing an animal that has already been killed or sold than for stealing one still alive, which is addressed in the next verse.
  2. Éxodo 22:2“Breaking up” means during a break-in of the house, at night, in the dark — the contrast comes in the next verse, “if the sun be risen upon him.” If the homeowner killed the thief during that nighttime break-in, it was not considered murder, because at night there was no way to know whether the intruder only meant to steal or also to kill. By day, with the thief already identifiable, killing him became a crime.
  3. Éxodo 22:3If the thief killed during a break-in was killed by day, when he could already be identified, killing him counted as a crime, requiring full restitution for the theft.
  4. Éxodo 22:4If the stolen animal was found still alive in the thief’s possession, the penalty was lighter: double the value, not the larger multiples set in the first verse.
  5. Éxodo 22:5Addresses damage caused by a loose animal grazing in someone else’s field: the animal’s owner had to compensate with the best produce of his own land.
  6. Éxodo 22:6Regulates the case of a fire that spreads and destroys someone else’s crop: whoever started the fire was responsible for the entire loss caused.
  7. Éxodo 22:7Addresses valuables left in someone else’s keeping and then stolen: if the thief was identified, he paid double the value stolen.
  8. Éxodo 22:8If the thief was not found, the keeper of the goods himself had to appear before the judges to prove that he had not kept the items for himself.
  9. Éxodo 22:9Establishes a general principle for property disputes with no clear resolution: the judges decide, and whoever is found guilty pays double the value in dispute.
  10. Éxodo 22:10Addresses animals left in someone else’s care that die, are injured, or disappear with no witnesses, opening up the solution detailed in the next verse.
  11. Éxodo 22:11In these cases with no witness, an oath before God was enough to settle the dispute, trusting the keeper’s word about his own innocence.
  12. Éxodo 22:12If, however, the animal had in fact been stolen while in someone else’s care, the keeper was required to compensate the owner.
  13. Éxodo 22:13If the animal had been killed by a predator, the keeper only needed to present the remains as proof, without having to pay for the loss.
  14. Éxodo 22:14Addresses borrowed items that are damaged or die while the original owner is absent: whoever borrowed them is responsible for compensation.
  15. Éxodo 22:15If the owner was present when the damage happened, or if the item had been rented, the loss was already covered by the rental fee itself.
  16. Éxodo 22:16In the ancient world, an unmarried woman who had relations before marriage lost much of her chance of marrying afterward, leaving her socially and economically vulnerable. That is why the law required the man to marry her and pay the agreed dowry, securing her support; the next verse shows that her father could still refuse that marriage.
  17. Éxodo 22:17If the young woman’s father refused to allow the marriage described in the previous verse, the man still had to pay the amount equal to the usual dowry.
  18. Éxodo 22:18Sorcery was associated with the rituals of Israel’s neighboring nations, seen as a threat to the people’s faithfulness to their God. The penalty set here reflects how much weight these laws gave to keeping the people separate from such practices; it is a law from the context of ancient Israel, not guidance on how to treat someone today.
  19. Éxodo 22:19This law condemns to death anyone who had sexual relations with an animal, treated in the laws of the Old Testament as a grave violation of the order of creation. It appears alongside other laws on sexual and religious purity that set Israel apart from the customs of the surrounding nations.
  20. Éxodo 22:20Forbids any sacrifice to gods other than the LORD, treating that practice with the same gravity as a capital crime within the Israelite community.
  21. Éxodo 22:21Forbids mistreating foreigners, directly recalling Israel’s own experience as an oppressed foreigner in Egypt, a moral basis used several times in the law.
  22. Éxodo 22:22Extends this special protection to widows and orphans, the most vulnerable groups in ancient society, lacking the traditional protection of family.
  23. Éxodo 22:23Warns that God Himself will hear the cry of anyone mistreated this way, treating the oppression of the vulnerable as a direct offense against Him.
  24. Éxodo 22:24The threatened punishment is severe: the oppressors themselves would risk dying, leaving their own families in the same vulnerable situation they had caused.
  25. Éxodo 22:25“Usury” here means charging interest on a loan. The law forbids charging interest to a poor Israelite who needed to borrow money, because that kind of loan was meant to be help between neighbors, not a business for profiting off someone’s need.
  26. Éxodo 22:26If someone took another person’s garment as security for a loan, the law required returning it before nightfall, since it was often the only covering the person had.
  27. Éxodo 22:27Explains the human reason behind the previous rule: without that garment, the person would be cold at night, and God promises to hear the cry of anyone treated this way.
  28. Éxodo 22:28Forbids publicly insulting both judges and political leaders, protecting the authority of the institutions responsible for justice in Israel.
  29. Éxodo 22:29“Firstfruits” are the first crops of the harvest, offered to God before any other use. The part about the firstborn of sons does not mean human sacrifice: the biblical text itself, later in 34:20, explains that the human firstborn had to be redeemed, that is, an offering was given in his place.
  30. Éxodo 22:30Determines that the firstborn of animals should only be offered to God after spending a full week with their own mother.
  31. Éxodo 22:31This concerns the meat of an animal found already dead or torn by another animal in the field, without having been slaughtered in the ritual way, with the blood properly drained. That is why this meat was considered unfit for the people to eat and had to be discarded.

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