If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
This verse is part of a detailed legal code God gave to Moses and the Israelite people after their liberation from slavery in Egypt — laws meant to help a newly freed people build a just society together. The broader passage addresses someone who breaks into a home: if it happens at night, the homeowner who kills the intruder is not held guilty, since intent is impossible to determine in darkness; but if it happens in daylight and the homeowner kills a thief, that is considered excessive — he is guilty of bloodshed. The second half of this verse establishes a foundational principle: a thief must make restitution, paying back what was stolen. But if the thief has nothing, rather than being imprisoned or executed, he could be sold into temporary servitude to repay the debt. The law holds wrongdoers accountable while preserving their life and dignity.
God, you built fairness and mercy into the same law — holding people accountable while protecting their dignity. Help me want restoration more than revenge, and give me the honesty to see where I owe something to someone I have wronged. Amen.
In a world where justice usually means punishment — prison, public shaming, permanent records, labels that follow people forever — this three-thousand-year-old law offers something stranger and more interesting: restoration. The thief does not get away with it. But the goal of the consequence is not destruction; it is repair. Pay back what you took. Make the person you wronged whole again. And if you have nothing, work it off — and then it is done. There is something quietly revolutionary in that framework. The punishment is proportional, restorative, and — crucially — it has an end. The thief is not defined forever by the worst thing they did. This verse invites a question that is harder to answer than it first sounds: when someone wrongs you, what do you actually want? Punishment? Vindication? Or do you want things to be genuinely made right — restored, not just avenged? The gap between those two desires reveals more about where we are with forgiveness than most of us are comfortable admitting.
What is the difference between punishment and restitution? Why do you think this ancient law emphasized repaying the victim rather than simply penalizing the thief?
Think of a time when someone wronged you. Were you more focused on seeing them face consequences, or on having the actual wrong made right? What does that honest answer tell you about yourself?
This law protects even the thief from being killed during daylight hours. What does it say about how God views the dignity and worth of people who do wrong?
How might the principle of restitution — making things genuinely right, not just expressing remorse — change how you handle conflict in your closest relationships?
Is there a situation in your life right now where you owe someone something — an apology, repayment, restored trust — that you have been putting off? What would one concrete first step toward restitution look like this week?
Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
Isaiah 50:1
If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Exodus 21:2
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Romans 7:14
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Genesis 9:6
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Matthew 24:43
But if the sun has risen, there will be bloodguilt for him. The thief [if he lives] must make [full] restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold [as a slave to make restitution] for his theft.
AMP
but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
ESV
'[But] if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
NASB
but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed. “A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft.
NIV
If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
NKJV
But if it happens in daylight, the one who killed the thief is guilty of murder. “A thief who is caught must pay in full for everything he stole. If he cannot pay, he must be sold as a slave to pay for his theft.
NLT
But if it happens after daybreak, there is bloodguilt. "A thief must make full restitution for what is stolen. The thief who is unable to pay is to be sold for his thieving.
MSG