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.
To betray a trust is unjust and base, and the world is right to cry shame on it. We must guard what is entrusted to us as carefully as our own; and an oath before the judges, sworn by the Lord Himself as witness and avenger, ends the dispute, for perjury startles the conscience as much as any sin.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 22:7-15
If the thief be not found,.... And so no account can be given of the goods deposited, what is become of them, and it becomes a doubtful case whether they have been stolen or embezzled, and there is suspicion of the latter: then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges: here called Elohim, gods, because they were God's vicegerents, and represented...
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. (d) That is, whether he has stolen.