Exodus 22:8

8 si latet dominus domus adplicabitur ad deos et iurabit quod non extenderit manum in rem proximi sui

Exodus 22:8 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 22:8

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 him, and acted under his power and authority; and who at this present were Moses, and those that judged the people under him, and afterwards the seventy elders, and all such who in succeeding times were judges in Israel, and bore the office of civil magistrates; before these the master of the house, or the person who had any goods committed to his care, and they were lost, was to be brought and put to his oath, and upon it examined, in order to find out what was become of the goods committed to him: to see whether he has put his hand to his neighbour's goods: took them to himself, made use of them, or disposed of them to his own advantage, and which was no other than a kind of theft.

Exodus 22:8 In-Context

6 si egressus ignis invenerit spinas et conprehenderit acervos frugum sive stantes segetes in agris reddet damnum qui ignem succenderit

7 si quis commendaverit amico pecuniam aut vas in custodiam et ab eo qui susceperat furto ablata fuerint si invenitur fur duplum reddet

8 si latet dominus domus adplicabitur ad deos et iurabit quod non extenderit manum in rem proximi sui

9 ad perpetrandam fraudem tam in bove quam in asino et ove ac vestimento et quicquid damnum inferre potest ad deos utriusque causa perveniet et si illi iudicaverint duplum restituet proximo suo

10 si quis commendaverit proximo suo asinum bovem ovem et omne iumentum ad custodiam et mortuum fuerit aut debilitatum vel captum ab hostibus nullusque hoc viderit