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.
9. For all manner of trespass. An action for theft is here permitted, but with a fine attached if any should rashly accuse his neighbor; for else it might be doubted when or for what reasons the restitution of double or quadruple was to be required.
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
For all manner of trespass,.... With respect to what is committed to a man's trust, and it is lost to the owner of it, there must be somewhere or other a trespass committed, either by the person into whose hands it was put, or by a thief that has stolen it from him: whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or...