Exodus · chapter 22 of 40
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Exodus 22 continues the Book of the Covenant with laws about theft, damage to property, goods left in safekeeping and loans. It also forbids idolatry and commands Israel to protect the foreigner, the widow, the orphan and the poor borrower. The chapter shows that God cares about property and, even more, about the most vulnerable people.
Exodus 22 follows the laws God gave Israel at Sinai, after the cases of violence in chapter 21. Now conflicts over goods and duties toward the weak are addressed. For readers today, the chapter is a reminder that faithfulness to God includes honesty in business and compassion toward those who have no one to defend them.
The chapter begins with theft. Whoever steals an ox or a sheep and kills or sells it must repay several times its value, and a thief who cannot pay may be sold to make restitution. It addresses a thief caught breaking in at night, a field damaged by livestock or by fire, and goods or animals left in safekeeping or borrowed, with an oath before the Lord when there are no witnesses.
The next rules deal with the seduction of an unmarried girl, which requires the bride-price and marriage if her father agrees. Living by sorcery, bestiality and sacrificing to other gods are forbidden. Then comes a block on compassion: do not mistreat or oppress the foreigner, because Israel was a foreigner in Egypt, and do not afflict the widow and the orphan, for God will hear their cry.
Loans to the poor are to carry no interest, and a cloak taken as a pledge must be returned before sunset, since it is the borrower's covering for sleep. The chapter ends with duties toward God: do not revile God or curse a ruler of the people, do not delay the firstfruits and give the firstborn to him, and do not eat the flesh of an animal torn in the field, because Israel must be a holy people.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The foreigner must not be wronged or oppressed, because Israel itself was a foreigner in the land of Egypt. Compassion for the stranger rests on the memory of what God did for his people.
The widow and the orphan must not be afflicted, because the Lord will hear their cry and his anger will burn against whoever oppresses them. God makes himself the personal defender of those with no one to speak for them.
When lending money to a poor person among the people, one must not act like a moneylender or charge interest. The loan was to be help for a brother in need, not a way to profit from his misfortune.
If a man's cloak is taken as a pledge, it must be returned before sunset, because it is his only covering. God says he will hear the cry, for he is compassionate; even the rules for loans are measured by the other person's need.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He had to repay five oxen for the ox; for a sheep, four sheep. — Exodus 22:1
Answer: He had to make full restitution for what was burned. — Exodus 22:6
Answer: Because Israel had also been foreigners in the land of Egypt. — Exodus 22:21
Answer: He will hear their cry, his anger will burn, and he will deal with those who oppressed them. — Exodus 22:22-24
Answer: It was to be returned before sunset, because it was the poor man's only covering. — Exodus 22:26-27
Answer: The flesh of an animal torn by beasts in the field, because they were to be holy people for God. — Exodus 22:31
Exodus 22 joins two things we sometimes separate: honesty with money and compassion for people. Someone who has received another's property, caused damage or borrowed must answer with integrity. A small group can review how it handles work commitments, debts and its word.
The chapter also asks us to look at those without a voice: the immigrant, the widow, the orphan and the person in financial trouble. God says he hears their cry. A church can ask whom it is listening to and what concrete help it can offer without taking advantage of anyone's need.
Exodus 22 teaches that the covenant with God covers business, loans and the treatment of the weakest, because Israel was to be a holy people. Chapter 23 continues with justice in the courts, the Lord's sabbaths and feasts, and the promises for entering the land.
Multiple restitution repaired the damage and discouraged theft. In a world without prisons, the thief made good the loss from his own goods, and if he could not pay, he worked to make restitution. The penalty aimed to restore the victim, not only to punish.
The text forbids charging interest to the poor person among the people who borrows out of need. It is not about commercial investments but about helping a brother in distress. The principle remains: we must not profit from another's misfortune.
It acknowledged that everything belongs to God, who had delivered Israel from Egypt, where the firstborn of the Egyptians died. Firstborn animals were offered to God; human firstborn were redeemed, as other passages of the law explain.