“If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is struck and killed in the process, the person who killed the thief is not guilty of murder.
Parallel translations
- WEB If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him.
- KJV If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
- BSB If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed.
- NKJV If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.
- NASB If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no guilt for bloodshed on his account.
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 a thief breaking in at night is struck and killed, there is no bloodguilt. Defending one's household in the dark, when intent is unclear, is permitted.
Overview
This law recognizes the right of self-defense against a nighttime intruder whose purposes cannot be known. It balances protection of life and home with the value of even the offender's life, as the next verse shows. The careful weighing of guilt here reflects God's just discernment of intent and circumstance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Matt 24:43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
- Matt 6:19–20“Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
- Num 35:27and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood,
- Joel 2:9They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
- Job 24:14The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.
- Job 30:5They are driven out from among men. They cry after them as after a thief;
- 1 Th 5:2For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
- Hos 7:1When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the gang of robbers ravages outside.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 22:2 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.