Komentaryo sa Exodo 21:37: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi, Chizkuni & Ibn Ezra

“When a man steals an ox” [21:37]. When a person steals an ox, he must repay five oxen for the one he had stolen. If he steals a sheep, he must repay four sheep. Rashi writes. Rabbi Yohanan said: an ox follows the thief when he leads it. It is an easy thing to do. Therefore, he must repay five oxen instead of one ox. However, a small animal that he steals, he must carry on his shoulders. He becomes embarrassed. He becomes ashamed that he must carry it. Therefore, he should instead repay four times for the sheep, since the Holy One always said that the person should retain his dignity and should not be shamed. Another explanation is that the ox plowed and did other work for its original owner. Now, the thief has inconvenienced the original owner’s work. Therefore, he must pay five oxen for one ox.²⁸Rashi, Exodus, 21:37.

Bahya writes. When someone steals something out of the house, clothes or silver and gold, then he must repay double. However, animals go about freely in the field without a guard. Therefore, the Torah made the penalty two times double for one who steals an animal because the Torah punishes him for a transgression that can be done quickly. That is to say, an animal is easy to steal; it goes about in the field. Therefore, everyone will steal them. That is why he must repay two times double. This is for sheep, for one sheep that he steals. However, larger animals go even further afield, and the herder cannot keep them together. Therefore, the Torah ordered that five oxen should be repaid for one ox, because they are quickly stolen. So writes Ramban. Why does a thief repay double and a robber does not repay double? This is because the thief considers people to be more important than the Holy One. He makes sure that the person should not see that he is stealing in the dark, but he is not afraid of the Holy One who forbade him to steal. Therefore, because he shames the Holy One, he must repay double for the theft. However, the one who openly steals considers the Holy One and the people equal. He does not shame the Holy One any more than the people. That is why the robber does not pay double. The Midrash writes. Israel stole an ox. That is to say, they made the Golden Calf, which is called an ox. Therefore, they had to pay five times as much. That is to say, many Israelites died and that is why there were five kinds of death and punishments at the Golden Calf [incident]. The first was that they were killed with the sword through the hand of the children of Levi. The second was a plague through the Holy One. Many Israelites died at the Golden Calf [incident]. The third was that the faces of many turned green and yellow because of the Calf, when Moses gave them the water that is given to the suspected wife. The fourth was that the Temple was destroyed. The fifth was that the Holy One remembered the sin to repay for it in all generations.²⁹Bahya, Exodus, 21:37.

“Four sheep for the sheep” [21:37]. Four sheep for the lamb that they stole. Joseph is called a sheep. Therefore, we, Israel, were in exile for four hundred years in exile in Egypt.

חמשה בקר וגו׳ [HE SHALL PAY] FIVE OF THE HERD etc. — Rabban Jochanan ben Zaccai said, “The Omnipresent has much consideration for the honour of His creatures: when an ox — an animal that can walk by itself — has been stolen and sold or slaughtered, in which case the thief had not to degrade himself by carrying it on his shoulder, he has to pay fivefold restitution. In the case of a lamb, however, which he had to carry on his shoulder, he has to pay only the fourfold, because he was forced to degrade himself by carrying it”. Rabbi Meir said, “Come and see how great is the virtue of labour: In the case of the theft of an ox which he (the thief) withdrew from its labour, thereby causing a loss to its owner, he has to repay five oxen, in the case of a lamb which he has not withdrawn from its labour — only four (Bava Kamma 79b).