Limitless Word
But if the owner was present, no compensation is required. And no compensation is required if the animal was rented, for this loss is covered by the rental fee.
Exodus 22:15 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB If its owner is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease.
  • KJV But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.
  • BSB If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If the animal was rented, the fee covers the loss.
  • NKJV If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.
  • NASB If its owner is with it, the borrower shall not be compelled to make restitution. If it is hired, it came by its hire.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

If the owner is present, or the animal was leased, no restitution is owed; the loss is covered by the agreement. Liability follows the terms of the arrangement.

Overview

When the owner accompanies his animal or has rented it out, he assumes the risk, and the hire price already accounts for potential loss. The law allocates responsibility sensibly according to the nature of the agreement. This wisdom in human contracts reflects the order and fairness of God, the giver of every good law.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 1

  • Zech 8:10For before those days there was no wages for man, nor any wages for an animal; neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbor.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 22:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 22:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.