What Does Exodus 22:7 Mean in the King James?

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.

Exodus 22:7 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

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 the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Genesis 2:15 · KJVThe garden is received as something to tend and guard; keeping is entrusted work.

If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;

Leviticus 6:2 · KJVDishonesty about what another placed in one’s keeping is treated as an accountable breach of trust.

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:2 · KJVStewardship carries the same charge: what is entrusted is held to account through faithful keeping.

THE THREAD

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Genesis 2:15 · KJV

“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.

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