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Exodus 22 · a question people ask

Did this law let a homeowner kill a thief?

In the text

It draws a line. "If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him" (22:2). But "If the sun has risen on him, he is guilty of bloodshed" (22:3). The chapter gives the rule without explaining it. The thief's own penalty is to pay: "He shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft" (22:3).

The verses

“If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him. If the sun has risen on him, he is guilty of bloodshed. He shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.”
Exodus 22:2-3 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Exodus 22

Exodus 22: For I am gracious

The laws guarding the alien, the widow and the fatherless use the very Hebrew verbs of what Egypt did to Israel, oppress and afflict, and God promises to hear their cry as he heard Israel's. And the Hebrew Bible first uses chanun, "gracious", when God speaks up for a neighbor's garment taken as collateral (22:27); the next time, it's in his own name (34:6).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions