Today's examples of thievery aren't as clear cut as yesterday's. There are other ways a person can cause loss to another person's belongings than by outright stealing---such as by being careless. Today's passage involves incidences of taking things from others without necessarily meaning to. It also describes how to handle situations in which one person's belongings get stolen while those belongings are in the care of someone else.
We begin with theft of grazing land. While it's true that many flocks and herds grazed freely together in the fields and meadows and on the hillsides, this doesn't mean people weren't going to own or fence off private property. Allowing one's animals to graze on the property of another is a form of stealing. "If anyone grazes their livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in someone else's field, the offender must make restitution from their own field or vineyard." (Exodus 23:5) The owner of the animals is to pay the owner of the land back for the amount of the loss. This is not one of the cases where extra damages could be assessed and demanded. The landowner is only out the amount of grass or hay the other person's animals consumed. Since this is not likely to be a situation that goes on for days or weeks, the landowner is going to spot the other animals on his land fairly quickly and will be able to go to the owner of those animals to ask payment for what they've eaten. The payment is to be given in the same form it was consumed; if the animals ate grass, it must be paid back in grass or hay. If the animals trampled part of a vineyard, the owner of the animals must replace any plants or grapes that were ruined.
Next we take a look at the accidental spread of what is supposed to be a controlled burn. "If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution." (Exodus 22:6) There are various reasons a person might start a fire: to burn brush that's been cleared, to burn stubble off a field to ready it for planting, to burn trash, to cook over a campfire, to heat the home or campsite, and so on . At times a fire might get away from the person who set it and it might cause damage to the crops in a nearby field. Even though burning up someone else's crops is accidental, the person who started the fire has to make things right with the person whose crops were destroyed. Something similar happened to my boss once. He was burning a brush pile at the back of his property and the fire got out of control and started spreading up the mountainside. Several volunteer fire departments in the area had to rush out to get the fire under control and extinguished. The land it spread onto was part of the national forest so no crops were destroyed. But if I recall correctly, a fine was imposed on him to help cover the expense incurred by the fire departments.
There may be times in life when a person is watching over the goods of another. The Lord tells the people what to do if those goods go missing. "If anyone gives a neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor's house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double. But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges, and they must determine whether the owner of the house has laid hands on the other person's property." (Exodus 22:7-8) A hearing will be called if the homeowner says, "I don't know what happened to your stuff! I came in from working in my fields and all your things were missing!" The judges will determine if they feel the homeowner is telling the truth (perhaps his home was burgled while he was out working) or whether anything seems suspicious about his story. They would come out to his property and his fields to see whether they can find any of the missing items. They would probably check to see if he's sold any silver or other goods lately. They would look into his character to see if he's ever been convicted of theft in the past. Then a panel of judges would render a verdict against the man if any proof is found that he is the one who used or sold the other man's belongings.
Theft could, and often did, involve livestock in agricultural communities. A man might notice one of his farm animals missing and might see a bull, for example, that looks just like his on another man's farm. "In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, 'This is mine,' both parties are to bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges declare guilty must pay back double to the other." (Exodus 22:9)
A hearing has to be held when accusations of theft are being flung about. But I can imagine the indignation a person might feel when he sees someone else in possession of his belongings. When I was in high school a pair of shorts I kept in my gym locker went missing. A few days later I saw a girl with them on but I wasn't able to prove, to the gym teacher's satisfaction, that they were mine and of course the other girl denied taking them from the locker room. They were a pair of shorts I'd bought out of town during the summer and I hadn't seen anyone else in school wearing a pair just like them except this one girl. They were white with small polka dots in a variety of colors. Why do I remember the shorts and this incident so well from the fall school semester of 1985? Because it was upsetting at the time. This isn't the only item that's ever been stolen from me; it was just the first that came to mind this morning. But if you've ever had anything stolen from you and then you saw your item in someone else's possession, you can imagine the indignation of the person in verse 9 who wants to bring his case before the judges to get his item back. If the judges decide the accused person is guilty of theft, they will order him to pay double what he stole. If it had worked out this way with my gym shorts, the girl who took them would have probably been ordered to return my shorts plus pay me the price of another pair.
There might be reasons why a man asks his neighbor to care for his livestock for him for a time. For instance, maybe he's going on a journey and needs someone to watch his animals while he's gone. Suppose any of these animals go missing while they're in the care of the neighbor? Suppose illness or harm comes to an animal while it's in the care of someone other than its owner? "If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to their neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before the Lord that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person's property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required." (Exodus 22:10-11)
Presumably the owner of the livestock wouldn't have asked an untrustworthy, irresponsible person to watch over his animal, so if the person swears under oath that he did nothing to cause the animal to die, the owner of the animal must accept that he's telling the truth. In this case it appears the death was due to unpreventable natural causes. If the animal was stolen while in someone else's care, the person who was to be watching over it must pay the value of the animal to its owner. "But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, restitution must be made to the owner." (Exodus 22:12) If the person who was watching over the animal claims a wild animal crept into the field or pen to kill it, he must produce the remains to prove this is what happened. "If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, the neighbor shall bring the remains as evidence and shall not be required to pay for the torn animal." (Exodus 22:13) All farmers and shepherds knew there was a risk of attack by wild animals. If this is what happened to the dead animal, this is considered a situation beyond the control of the person in charge of the animal. The attack most likely happened during the night or at some other time when no persons were present to scare away predators, but even if it happened in broad daylight, the owner of the animal could hardly expect the other man to fight off a bear to save another person's animal.
"If anyone borrows an animal from their neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, they must make restitution." (Exodus 22:14) For example, suppose a man's own ox dies right about the time he needs to plow his fields for planting. He might ask to borrow an ox from his neighbor. If the animal is injured or dies after the owner leaves it with the borrower, the borrower is responsible if anything happens to it while it's in his care. But if the animal dies while its owner is leaving it with the borrower or while the owner is retrieving it from the borrower, the death is considered to have happened while in its owner's care and the borrower owes the owner nothing for the death. "But if the owner is with the animal, the borrower will not have to pay." (Exodus 22:15a) Suppose the person who needs to use the ox paid a fee to the ox's owner? In that case the owner is supposed to have charged enough to cover a loss if it occurs. For instance, the owner could have charged a rental fee plus a deposit. The deposit could be returned to the borrower if the animal is returned to its owner in good shape. If the animal dies or is injured while in the borrower's care, the owner keeps the deposit to cover his loss. "If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss." (Exodus 22:15b)
The Lord cares about people's property. He cares about fairness. He cares when we lose something or when something is stolen from us. If something matters to us, it matters to God, and I feel like these instructions we've been studying are the proof of this.
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