Keluaran 20:15

20:15 “You shall not steal. ¹ 

Keluaran 20:17

20:17 “You shall not covet ²  your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” ³ 

Keluaran 21:16

21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone ⁴  and sells him, ⁵  or is caught still holding him, ⁶  must surely be put to death.

[20:15]  ¹ sn This law protected the property of the Israelite citizen. See D. Little, “Exodus 20,15: ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’,” Int 34 (1980): 399-405.

[20:17]  ² tn The verb חָמַד (khamad) focuses not on an external act but on an internal mental activity behind the act, the motivation for it. The word can be used in a very good sense (Ps 19:10; 68:16), but it has a bad connotation in contexts where the object desired is off limits. This command is aimed at curtailing the greedy desire for something belonging to a neighbor, a desire that leads to the taking of it or the attempt to take it. It was used in the story of the Garden of Eden for the tree that was desired.

[20:17]  ³ sn See further G. Wittenburg, “The Tenth Commandment in the Old Testament,” Journal for Theology in South Africa 21 (1978): 3-17: and E. W. Nicholson, “The Decalogue as the Direct Address of God,” VT 27 (1977): 422-33.

[21:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “a stealer of a man,” thus “anyone stealing a man.”

[21:16]  ⁵ sn The implication is that it would be an Israelite citizen who was kidnapped and sold to a foreign tribe or country (like Joseph). There was always a market for slaves. The crime would be in forcibly taking the individual away from his home and religion and putting him into bondage or death.

[21:16]  ⁶ tn Literally “and he is found in his hand” (KJV and ASV both similar), being not yet sold.