Tafsiran Imamat 19:11: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi, Kli Yakar & Sforno

“You shall not steal” [19:11]. The Talmud says in [tractate] Baba Mezia. One should not steal something from his friend in order to cause him anguish. That is to say, his thought is that he will return it, but he will cause him anguish for a while. This is a great sin, as the Talmud says, “in order to irritate him.” That is to say, his thought is to cause him anguish. Whoever steals, eventually lies and swears falsely and desecrates the name of God, heaven forbid, since one sin leads to another sin.⁸Bahya, Leviticus, 19:11.

לא תגנבו YE SHALL NOT STEAL — This is a warning addressed to him who steals money (the property of his fellow-man), but the law “Thou shalt not steal" which is contained in the Ten Commandments is a warning addressed to him who steals a human being. For this it what is learnt from the context, because it must be a matter for which one becomes liable to death by sentence of the court, (since the preceding laws in the Ten Commandments are of this character, which is the case with kidnapping and not with theft of money; cf. Rashi on Exodus 19:14) (Mekhilta 20:13:3; Sanhedrin 86a).

“You shall not steal,” etc. The verse speaks of stealing money, as it says, and you shall not swear falsely by My name, implying that if you steal, you will eventually deny it, and if you deny it, you will eventually swear falsely. Since one does not take an oath regarding denial of land or slaves, this must refer to stealing money. Therefore, the plural form you shall not steal is used to warn also the person who divides the spoils with the thief, for he too hates his own soul. For typically, money can be divided, but in the case of kidnapping, there is usually not enough to divide; even though a person is sellable, perhaps buyers will not be found. Thus, generally two people do not partner in actual kidnapping, which is why the singular form is used You shall not steal (Exodus 20:13). Similarly, You shall not oppress refers to one who hires a worker, and typically two employers do not hire one worker in partnership, therefore it says You shall not oppress in the singular form. And regarding what is written, You shall not oppress your fellow and You shall not rob, while for theft it does not mention “your fellow,” this is because every thief also steals from the Divine consciousness and acts as if the Eye Above does not see, as it were [robbing being in the open whereas theft is secretive]. If so, he is not stealing only from his fellow, whereas the robber oppresses only his fellow.