Thou Shall Not Steal

Exodus 20:15 NLT

“You must not steal.

Theft/Stealing always leaves a victim.

Exodus 20:15 ASV 1901

Thou shalt not steal.

Theft/Stealing always leaves a victim.

Principle eight (20:15) speaks of the sanctity of each person’s own possessions. Perhaps no other sentence in human literature so clearly defines the principle of individual worth as this two-word (in Hebrew) statement. It says that people have a right to hold property that is distinctively theirs and that other persons have no right to take that property by force or stealth. This property is typically gained through the expenditure of a person’s foresight, energy, and diligence. Thus, to appropriate another’s property is to steal those personal qualities. We may debate endlessly what actually constitutes stealing. Is it theft to get a huge judgment against a plaintiff when the insurance company will have to pay it anyway? After all, the insurance company got the money through crooked dealing anyway, didn’t they? This kind of casuistic reasoning betrays a failure to understand the two principles that underlie all ten of these commandments: (1) Because I have entrusted my needs to my covenant Lord, (2) I do not have to manipulate others to get my needs supplied; in fact, I can value and honor others. The Bible says that those who live by these principles not only will not need to steal, they will have abundance to give away (Deut 15:6–8; 28:10–12).1

1 Ross, A., & Oswalt, J. N. (2008). Cornerstone biblical commentary: Genesis, Exodus (Vol. 1, p. 447). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.