Exodus 22

Exodus 22

So the first few laws were about the owning of human beings, ranging from contracted service through to outright slavery with more laws about protecting the slave owners rights, rather than protecting PEOPLE from abusive masters.
The next set is about thieves. theft and personal properties. Considering the Israelites allegedly were slaves till recent events this just underlines the fact they must have been the most prosperous slaves in history, and also raises the question, if they saw thier slavery as so wrong why do they feel it is alright to enslave others.
Slaves in more recent history didn't even own the clothes on their backs.
¹If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
²If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
³If 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.
⁴If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.
⁵If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
⁶If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
⁷If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.
⁸If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.
⁹For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.
¹⁰If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:
¹¹Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.
¹²And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
¹³If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.
¹⁴And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.
¹⁵But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.
¹⁶And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
¹⁷If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

Still on women as a possession then.
Now a change of tack.

¹⁸Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

The above line in itself responsible for MILLIONS of church sanctioned ritual tortures and murders from the 15th century. Sanctioned by the not so innocent pope Innocent the eighth in his Malleus maleficarum and unfortunately occasionally still occurring today. And it's a mis-translation a more accurate translation would be "thou shalt not suffer a POISONER to live". But is still translated a sorceress(nlt)

¹⁹Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

Does this even apply in Wales, Australia and New Zealand

²⁰He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

Still more evidence for more gods.

²¹Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
²²Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
²³If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;

Has god had his ears cleaned out ?

²⁴And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

That'll be hot earwax then. But what does an alpowerful diety need with a sword ? Zeus or Thor would have used a thunderbolt, Odin and and others an earthquake not that powerful in the gods then is old yhvh.

²⁵If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
²⁶If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
²⁷For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

What ?
Something altruistic ? Where did this come from?

²⁸Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

Guess I'm in deep shit then.

²⁹Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

Is this in a "he will grow up to be a preist" kind of way or a "rip his heart out on a bloodstained altar" kind of way.

³⁰Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

Looks like it may be the bloodstained alter kind of way, not what I consider a good method of contraception.

³¹And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.