What Does Exodus 22:14 Mean in the King James?
And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse makes borrowing a promise of wholeness: even when loss is accidental and the owner is absent, the borrower bears the responsibility to restore what was lost.
THE MEANING
When you are entrusted with another person’s property, responsibility remains even when the owner is absent and the loss is accidental. Trust includes the work of repairing or replacing what is damaged or lost.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that an accident, good intentions, or the owner’s absence leaves the other person to absorb the loss.
THE ROOT
שַׁלֵּם יְשַׁלֵּם
shallēm yeshallem
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or sound; in this form, to make restitution or repay.
“make it good” in this verse is shallēm yeshallem. The Hebrew repeats the root in the phrase for repayment, joining making good with making whole. The same root appears in shalom, wholeness, so the obligation carries a resonance beyond settling a debt.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
It shares the root with repayment, linking restored property with the wider idea of wholeness.
shalem: Complete, sound, whole
שָׁלֵם
It names the condition the act of making good moves toward.
יִשְׁאַל
yish’al
GROWS FROM
שאל
sh-’-l
To ask, request, or inquire; in this verse, to ask for the use of something.
The word translated ‘borrow’ begins with asking: the object passes through a request and an act of trust. The root keeps that relationship visible when the English word can sound like a simple transaction.
ALSO GROWS
she’elah: A request or question
שְׁאֵלָה
It preserves the asking that lies inside the act of borrowing.
Sha’ul: Asked for
שָׁאוּל
This related form shows the root’s sense of a request made and answered.
THE PATTERN
When one person’s actions cause another person a loss, responsibility moves toward material restoration.
Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.THE THREAD
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.The phrase translated ‘make it good’ uses the root שלם (sh-l-m), also found in שָׁלוֹם (shalom), ‘wholeness.’ Psalm 34:14 carries that same root in ‘peace,’ opening the repayment in Exodus as a movement toward wholeness.
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