Midrasch zu Tehillim 94:7

The disciples of R. Yohanan the son of Zakkai posed the query: Why does the Torah deal more harshly with a thief than with a robber, inasmuch as a thief is required to pay double or even four- or fivefold the value of what he has stolen, while concerning the robber it is written: Then it shall be, if he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he stole by robbery (Lev. 5:23)? He explained: The robber equates the dignity of the servant with the dignity of the Master, while the thief does not equate the dignity of the servant to that of the Master. He (the thief) acts as though the eyes of the Almighty were unable to see him and His ears were incapable of hearing him. He moves about stealthily while perpetrating his thievery, as though he can be seen by man but not by God. Therefore it says: Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say: “Who seeth us? Who knoweth us?” (Isa. 29:15); They say, the Lord will not see (Ps. 94:7); and it says also: The Lord seeth us not, the Lord has forsaken the land (Ezek. 8:12).

"if the thief is found, he pays double": A thief (one who steals by stealth) pays kefel, but not a robber (one who steals openly). Why did Scripture see fit to be more severe with a thief than with a robber? R. Yochanan says: A robber likens the honor of a servant to the honor of his Master, (not fearing both). A thief accords more honor to a servant than to His Master, (fearing the first, but not the second). A thief makes the Eye on high, unseeing, as it were, and the Ear, unhearing. As it is written (Isaiah 29:15) "Woe unto those who would probe deeper than the L rd, to conceal (their) counsel, doing their work in the dark; saying: 'Who sees us? Who notices us?'" And (Psalms 94:7) "They say 'The L rd does not see; the G d of Jacob does not understand.'" And (Ezekiel 9:9) "For they said 'The L rd has forsaken the land; the eye of the L rd does not see.'"

(Fol. 79 b) The disciples questioned R. Jochiman b. Zakkai: "Why did the Scripture treat more rigorously with the thief than with the robber?" To which he replied: "Because the robber put the honor of his Creator at least on the same level with that of His servant, while the thief did not do so, but, on the contrary, considered the eye and ear of Heaven as if it would not see and hear; as it is said (Is. 29, 15) Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, 'Who seeth us? etc;' and it is also written (Ps. 94, 7) And they say, 'The Lord will not see; neither will the God of Jacob give heed;' and it is also written (Ezek. 9, 9) For they say, 'The Lord hath forsaken the land, and the Lord seeth not.' " We are taught that R. Maier said: "The following parable was related in the name of R. Gamaliel: 'To what is the above equal? To two persons who lived in one and the same town. One made a feast and invited all the inhabitants of the town, but not the princes; the other one made a feast and invited neither the inhabitants nor the princes. Whose punishment ought to be severer? Surely that of the first one.'" Said R. Maier: "Come and see the greatness of labor: In case of stealing an ox which he prevented from laboring, the thief pays five; in case of a sheep which does not perform any work, he pays only four." R. Jochanan b. Zakkai said: "Come and see how great is human dignity! For an ox which walks on his feet, he pays five; but for a sheep, for which he (the thief) had to humiliate himself by carrying it on his shoulders, he pays only four."