What Does Exodus 22:7 Mean?
If a man gives to his neighbor silver or vessels to guard, and it is stolen out of the man's house; if the thief is found, let him make whole twice over.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.THE KEY
What is entrusted is placed under a watch, and a found thief must repay double.
THE MEANING
Money or goods placed in another’s keeping carry a real charge of custody. When the thief is found, the loss has an answer: the thief pays twice what was taken. The verse keeps the keeper’s trust and the thief’s guilt distinct.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that returning only what was taken settles the matter: the found thief owes double.
THE ROOT
לִשְׁמֹר
lishmor
GROWS FROM
שמר
sh-m-r
To guard, keep watch over, or preserve.
The Hebrew verb lishmor carries the sense of guarding and watching over, so “keep” here is an active charge rather than passive storage. Its related words for a keeper and a guard duty reveal that custody means attending to what has been entrusted.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: Keeper, guard, or watchman.
שֹׁמֵר
This branch names the person whose role is to watch over what has been entrusted.
mishmeret: Charge, duty, or guarded responsibility.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch makes the responsibility inside “keeping” visible: custody is a duty attached to the trust.
THE PATTERN
What is entrusted remains under a charge, and its loss or misuse is subject to accountability.
And the LORD God took Adam and set him down in the garden of Eden, to serve it and to guard it.If a living soul misses the mark, crossing over against the LORD, and lies to his neighbor in what was placed in his hand to keep, or in what was held in common, or in what was torn away by force, or has pressed his neighbor;Moreover, it is sought among portioners that someone be found steady.THE THREAD
And the LORD God took Adam and set him down in the garden of Eden, to serve it and to guard it.“Keep” in both verses comes from the Hebrew root שמר (shamar), meaning to guard or watch over. Genesis makes the root’s active sense plain: what is placed in your care is something to tend and protect.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us