If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him.
Parallel Translations
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If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him.
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If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
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(22-1) If a thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dieth, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Exodus 22:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 24:43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
- Numbers 35:27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood,
- Matthew 6:19-20 “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;
- Job 24:14 The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
- Job 30:5 They are driven out from among men. They cry after them as after a thief;
- Hosea 7:1 When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the gang of robbers ravages outside.
- Joel 2:9 They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Breaking an house to enter in, or undermining.
Breaking an house to enter in, or undermining.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 22:2 If a thief be found breaking up,…
Exo 22:2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, [there shall] no blood [be shed] for him.
Ver. 2. If a thief be found.] So, if an adulteress be taken, - as she was in Joh 8:4, - επαυτοφωρω, in the very act.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Breaking up, to wit, an house, which the Chaldee…
Breaking up, to wit, an house, which the Chaldee here adds, and by night, as appears from the next verse.
For him, i.e. for the thief, though he be killed by a man in his own defence. Because in that case the thief might be presumed to have a worse design, and the owner of the house could neither expect or have the help of others to secure him from the intended violence, nor guide his blows with that discretion and moderation which in the day-time he might use.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain If a thief be found breaking up,.... An house,…
If a thief be found breaking up,.... An house, in order to steal money, jewels, household goods, &c. or breaking through any fence, hedge, or wall of any enclosure, where oxen, or sheep, or any other creatures are, in order to take them away: the Targum of Jonathan is,"if in the hole of a wall (or window of it) a thief be found;''that is, in the night, as appears from the following verse, "if the sun", &c. to which this is opposed, as Aben Ezra observes; some render it, with a digging instrument (x); and it is a Jewish canon (y), that"if anyone enter with a digging instrument: he is condemned on account of his end;''his design, which is apparent by the instrument found upon him; for, as Maimonides (z) observes,"it is well known, that if anyone enters with a digging instrument, that he intends, if the master of the house opposes him to deliver his goods out of his power, that he will kill him, and therefore it is lawful to kill him; but it does not signify whether he enters with a digging instrument, either by the way of the court, or roof;"
and be smitten that he die be knocked down with a club, by the master of the house, or any of his servants, or be run through with a sword, or be struck with any other weapon, to hinder him from entrance and carrying off any of the goods of the house, and the blow be mortal: there shall no blood be shed for him: as for a man that is murdered; for to kill a man when breaking into a house, and, by all appearance, with an intention to commit murder, if resisted, in defence of a man's self, his life and property, was not to be reckoned murder, and so not punishable with death: or, "no blood" shall be "unto him" (a); shall be imputed to him, the man that kills the thief shall not be chargeable with his blood, or suffer for shedding it; because his own life was risked, and it being at such a time, could call none to his assistance, nor easily discern the person, nor could know well where and whom he struck.
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(x) "cum perfossorio", Pagninus; "cum instrumento perfosserio", Tigurine version. (y) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 8. sect. 6. (z) Comment. in ib. (a) "non ei sanguines", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. If a thief be found] If a…
Verse 2. If 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 that if there be daylight enough begun or left, either by the light of the sun or twilight, whereby the countenance of a person may reasonably be discerned, it is no burglary; but that this does not extend to moonlight, for then many midnight burglaries would go unpunished. And besides, the malignity of the offence does not so properly arise, as Mr. Justice Blackstone observes, from its being done in the dark, as at the dead of night when all the creation except beasts of prey are at rest; when sleep has disarmed the owner, and rendered his castle defenceless." - East's Pleas of the Crown, vol. ii., p. 509.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 22:2. If a thief broke into a house…
Exo 22:2. If a thief broke into a house in the night, and was killed in the doing it, his blood was upon his own head; but if it were in the day-time that the thief was killed, he that killed him was accountable for it, unless it were in the necessary defence of his own life.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If a thief, in breaking into a dwelling in…
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 Exo 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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Blood. The reason is, because it could not easily…
Blood. The reason is, because it could not easily be known whether the thief had not a design upon the life of the people in the house; and therefore, the law gave them authority to defend themselves. But they were not authorized to kill the thief designedly. the laws of Athens and of Rome, permitted nocturnal robbers to be slain, at least when they came armed. (Plato, de leg. ix. &c.) To defend our goods or honour, by killing the aggressor, is contrary to justice and reason. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. No blood… for him — The thief who…
2. No blood… for him — The thief who breaks into a house in the nighttime is commonly none too good to commit the foulest deeds. There would be no telling all his purposes; and, if slain in the act of such a crime the slayer was not to be looked upon as guilty of murder.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2–3a. A thief caught breaking in by night may…
2–3a. A thief caught breaking in by night may be killed without any guilt being incurred by his death, but not if the act take place by day. In the dark the householder would probably not be able to recognize the burglar, so as to bring him to justice, nor would he know whether he might not intend murder: a mortal blow, given in defence of his life and property, would therefore be excusable under the circumstances: but no such excuse could be made for it in the light of day. A thief might also be killed in the night with impunity by Athenian law (Dem. Timocr., § 113, p. 736; cf. Plato, Legg. ix. 874 b), and by the law of the XII. Tables (viii. 12) ‘si nox furtum factum sit, si im (eum) occisit, iure caesus esto.’ Ḥamm. § 21 is not really parallel: see Cook, p.213.
2. breaking in] digging through: cf. Jer_2:34, Job_24:16, Mat_6:19 RVm. Still the usual method of housebreakers in Syria: see Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant (1896), p. 260 f.
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for him] i.e. for the householder, if he kills him in the darkness. For the expression, cf. Num_35:27 RVm. (אין לו דם); and for ‘blood’ (marg.), implying ‘bloodguiltiness,’ Psa_51:14. Elsewhere blood is said to be ‘upon’ a person, Deu_19:10.
3a. upon him] i.e. upon the thief.
for him] the householder, as v. 2.
3b. If the text is correct, we must understand tacitly after v. 3a, ‘[He ought not therefore to be killed;] he should make restitution, &c.’ This however is a good deal to supply: both v. 2 and v. 3a start distinctly from the supposition that the thief is slain; and the ox, ass or sheep, of v. 4, are hardly likely to have been found in the house that was ‘dug’ into, v. 2. Hence there is great probability in Budde’s view that vv. 2, 3a are out of place; and that vv. 3b, 4 form really the sequel to v. 1, stating what is to be done in the two other alternative cases, (1) if the thief have nothing, (2) if the stolen animal be found in his possession alive. Render then (directly following v. 1): (v. 3b) ‘he shall surely make restitution [the word rendered ‘pay’ in vv. 1, 4]: if he have nothing, then he shall be sold,’ &c. (to the end of v. 4).
for his theft] i.e. not ‘as a punishment for his act of stealing,’ but ‘as compensation for the thing stolen.’ ‘According to Jos. Ant. xvi. 1. 1 a thief sold under these circumstances was not sold to a foreigner, and became free in the 7th year (ch. Exo_21:2)’ (Kn.).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) If a thief be found breaking up.—Rather, breaking…
(2) If a thief be found breaking up.—Rather, breaking in: i.e., making forcible entry into a dwelling-house. Most codes agree with the Mosaic in allowing the inmates of the house to resist such an attempt if made at night, and to shed the blood of the burglar, if necessary. He may be considered as having dissolved the “social compact,” and converted himself from a fellow-citizen into a public enemy. A murderous intent on his part may be suspected.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If a thief be found breaking up. Rather, "Breaking…
If a thief be found breaking up. Rather, "Breaking ini.e. , making forcible entry into a house. The ordinary mode of "breaking in" seems to have been by a breach in the wall. Hence the word here used, which is derived from khathar, "to dig." There shall no blood be shed for him. Rather, "the blood-feud shall not lie upon himi.e. , the avenger of blood shall not be entitled to proceed against his slayer. The principle here laid down has had the sanction of Solon, of the Roman law, and of the law of England. It rests upon the probability that those who break into a house by night bare a murderous intent, or at least have the design, if occasion arise, to commit murder.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.