Exodus 22 – Justice, Restitution, and Compassion
Exodus 22 gives practical guidance on how to handle theft, property damage, sorcery, seduction, and the treatment of strangers, widows, and the poor. These civil laws flow from God’s moral law, teaching His people to live with equity, reverence, and compassion.
When Justice Walks with Mercy
God’s law goes beyond punishment—it aims for restoration and protection. Exodus 22 shows how His heart is reflected in how we treat both possessions and people. From oxen to orphans, God cares deeply about how we handle responsibility, wrongdoing, and relationships.
✔ Laws for theft and restitution.
✔ Protection of property and animals.
✔ Moral boundaries for seduction and sorcery.
✔ Compassion for the poor, strangers, and the oppressed.
📖 Key Verse: “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.” – Exodus 22:22
🔎 True justice includes how we treat those with no one to defend them.
Exodus Chapter 22 Overview
Exodus 22:1–15 – Restitution and Responsibility
📖 Exodus 22:1–4 – “If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep… he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.”
🔎 Restoration—not incarceration:
🔹 God’s law emphasizes restitution over punishment—restoring more than what was lost.
🔹 The thief must pay back multiple times what was stolen—a deterrent rooted in justice.
🔹 If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is killed, it is not murder—self-defense is recognized. But if it happens in daylight, mercy is expected.
➡️ Justice Principle: God values both property rights and human life—justice must be proportional and wise.
📖 Exodus 22:5–6 – “If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten… he shall make restitution.”
🔎 Responsibility for indirect damage:
🔹 Grazing livestock must be managed carefully. If they damage another’s field, the owner is liable.
🔹 Fire caused by negligence must be repaid.
🔹 These laws cultivate neighborly accountability and respect.
➡️ Moral Insight: Negligence is not innocence. We are responsible for what we allow or fail to control.
📖 Exodus 22:7–13 – Safeguarding entrusted goods
🔎 Community trust and truthfulness:
🔹 If someone entrusts valuables to a neighbor and something goes wrong, the case is judged before God.
🔹 Swearing falsely to avoid guilt was a serious spiritual offense.
🔹 If theft is proven, double restitution is required. If not, the man’s oath before the Lord may settle the matter.
➡️ Covenant Culture: Trust must be guarded by honesty and reverence for God—He is both witness and judge.
📖 Exodus 22:14–15 – “If a man borrow ought of his neighbour… he shall surely make it good.”
🔎 Borrowing comes with risk and responsibility:
🔹 If something is borrowed and damaged, the borrower is accountable unless the owner was present.
🔹 God establishes a culture where borrowing is not exploitation, but mutual trust with personal cost.
➡️ Final Insight: God’s people are to be known for honor in every transaction, big or small.
Exodus 22:16–31 – Morality and Mercy in Action
📖 Exodus 22:16–17 – “If a man entice a maid… he shall surely endow her to be his wife.”
🔎 Sexual responsibility and protection:
🔹 Premarital intimacy came with covenant consequences—marriage or restitution.
🔹 The father still had a voice; if he refused, the man paid a bride-price regardless.
🔹 God guards the dignity of the woman and upholds covenant purity.
➡️ Covenant Insight: God’s law seeks not just purity, but protection for the vulnerable in every relationship.
📖 Exodus 22:18 – “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”
🔎 Sorcery as spiritual rebellion:
🔹 Witchcraft was more than superstition—it was intentional rebellion against God’s authority.
🔹 It often involved invoking false gods, manipulating power, and spreading spiritual corruption.
🔹 God’s people were to be set apart from occult practices entirely.
➡️ Spiritual Guardrail: No alliance with darkness—truth and power belong to God alone.
📖 Exodus 22:19–20 – “Whosoever lieth with a beast… He that sacrificeth unto any god… shall be utterly destroyed.”
🔎 God draws lines around moral and spiritual purity:
🔹 Bestiality and idolatry were common in pagan cultures—both were grounds for divine judgment.
🔹 These acts corrupted the soul and desecrated God’s image in man.
➡️ Holiness Reminder: God’s call to holiness includes both the body and spirit.
📖 Exodus 22:21–24 – “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger… nor afflict any widow, or fatherless child.”
🔎 Compassion embedded in law:
🔹 God identifies closely with the foreigner, widow, and orphan.
🔹 Mistreatment of the vulnerable brings divine wrath—God hears their cry.
🔹 His mercy is fierce when it comes to those with no defender but Him.
➡️ Covenant Justice: True holiness includes how we treat the least among us.
📖 Exodus 22:25–27 – “If thou lend money… thou shalt not be to him as an usurer… if thou take thy neighbour’s raiment…”
🔎 Economic mercy and dignity:
🔹 Loans to the poor must not exploit—no interest or predatory practices.
🔹 Even collateral like a garment must be returned by sundown, preserving the borrower’s dignity and warmth.
🔹 God calls us to compassionate commerce, not greed.
➡️ Mercy in Action: Holiness includes kindness in business and care for basic human need.
📖 Exodus 22:28–31 – “Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler… Ye shall be holy men unto me.”
🔎 Honor toward both heaven and earth:
🔹 God’s people are to speak with reverence and restraint toward both spiritual and civil authority.
🔹 Firstfruits and offerings are to be honored—faithfulness in giving reflects faithfulness to God.
🔹 The dietary and lifestyle commands remind Israel of their distinct call to holiness.
➡️ Final Charge: God’s kingdom people must live as set apart, merciful, and reverent—in speech, worship, and life.
Exodus Chapter 22 - Deeper Study
Overview: Civil Holiness in Practice
🔹 Timeframe: Still at Mount Sinai after the giving of the Ten Commandments.
🔹 Setting: Israel’s community being shaped under divine instruction.
🔹 Theme: Holiness must affect how we treat both possessions and people.
Key Takeaways
🔑 God demands restitution—not just punishment.
🔑 Personal responsibility safeguards community peace.
🔑 God defends the poor, the weak, and the voiceless.
🔑 Spiritual defilement affects societal order.
🔑 Mercy must guide our justice.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Restitution for theft – Echoes Zacchaeus’ repentance in Luke 19:8.
🔮 Protection of the poor and widow – Fulfilled in Christ’s mission (Luke 4:18, James 1:27).
🔮 Do not revile God or leaders – Foreshadows respect for spiritual authority under the new covenant (Romans 13:1–2).
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Ancient theft laws – Sought to restore, not destroy; property was tied to livelihood.
📜 Idolatry and sorcery – Seen as spiritual treason in Israel’s theocracy.
📜 Widows and orphans – Often without legal defense; God made them His personal concern.
💡 Final Reflection: Does Your Justice Include Mercy?
Justice is more than fairness—it’s a reflection of God’s heart. The civil laws of Exodus call us to think deeply about responsibility, restoration, and reverence.
📌 Do you seek to restore what is broken—or only punish?
📌 Are you defending the vulnerable—or ignoring them?
📌 Do your words and judgments reflect compassion?
🚀 God’s laws are rooted in His character. Let your justice reflect His mercy.
Exo 22:1 If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
Exo 22:2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
Exo 22:3 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.
Exo 22:4 If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.
Exo 22:5 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
Exo 22:6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
Exo 22:7 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.
Exo 22:8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods.
Exo 22:9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.
Exo 22:10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:
Exo 22:11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.
Exo 22:12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
Exo 22:13 If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.
Exo 22:14 And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.
Exo 22:15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.
Laws About Social Justice
Exo 22:16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
Exo 22:17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
Exo 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Exo 22:19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
Exo 22:20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
Exo 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exo 22:22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
Exo 22:23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
Exo 22:24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
Exo 22:25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
Exo 22:26 If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
Exo 22:27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
Exo 22:28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
Exo 22:29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
Exo 22:30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.
Exo 22:31 And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.
Date Written
1446-1406 BC
Written By
Moses
Language
Hebrew
Verses
31