Topical Bible: Stolen

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Topical Encyclopedia

The concept of "stolen" in the Bible is primarily associated with the act of taking something unlawfully from another person. This act is explicitly condemned in the Scriptures and is considered a violation of God's commandments. The prohibition against stealing is rooted in the moral and ethical teachings of the Bible, emphasizing respect for others' property and the importance of honesty and integrity.

Biblical Commandments and Laws

The Eighth Commandment, found in the Decalogue, explicitly forbids stealing: "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15). This commandment is reiterated in Deuteronomy 5:19, underscoring its significance in the moral law given to the Israelites. The prohibition against theft is a fundamental aspect of the covenant relationship between God and His people, reflecting His desire for justice and righteousness.

In the Mosaic Law, various regulations address the issue of theft and prescribe restitution for stolen property. For instance, Exodus 22:1-4 outlines the restitution required for different types of theft, emphasizing the principle of making amends: "If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep" (Exodus 22:1). These laws highlight the importance of restoring what has been taken and compensating the victim.

Moral and Ethical Implications

The act of stealing is not only a legal issue but also a moral one. It reflects a breach of trust and a disregard for the well-being of others. Proverbs 6:30-31 acknowledges the desperation that may drive a person to steal but still affirms the necessity of restitution: "Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger. Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house" . This passage illustrates the tension between understanding human need and upholding justice.

The New Testament continues to uphold the prohibition against stealing, urging believers to live lives of integrity and generosity. Ephesians 4:28 advises, "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need" . This exhortation not only condemns theft but also encourages productive and charitable living.

Spiritual Dimensions

Stealing is not merely a social or economic issue; it has spiritual dimensions as well. It reflects a lack of trust in God's provision and a failure to love one's neighbor as oneself. The act of taking what belongs to another is contrary to the character of God, who is just and generous. In Malachi 3:8-10, God accuses the Israelites of robbing Him by withholding tithes and offerings, illustrating that theft can also be a spiritual offense against God.

The Bible calls believers to a higher standard of living, one that reflects God's righteousness and love. By avoiding theft and practicing honesty, believers demonstrate their commitment to God's commandments and their love for others. The teachings of Jesus further emphasize the importance of the heart's intentions, as seen in Matthew 15:19, where theft is listed among the evils that come from within a person.

Conclusion

The biblical perspective on stealing is clear: it is a sin that violates God's commandments and harms relationships with others. The Scriptures call for restitution, repentance, and a transformation of the heart, urging believers to live lives marked by integrity, generosity, and trust in God's provision.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (p. p.) of Steal.

2. (p. p) of Steal.

Greek

2809. klemma -- theft
... theft. From klepto; stealing (properly, the thing stolen, but used of the act) --
theft. see GREEK klepto. (klemmaton) -- 1 Occurrence. 2808, 2809. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2809.htm - 6k

4749. stole -- equipment, apparel
... (stolais) -- 2 Occurrences. (stolas) -- 4 Occurrences. (stole) -- 1 Occurrence.
(stolen) -- 2 Occurrences. 4748, 4749. stole. 4750 . Strong's Numbers.
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4749.htm - 7k

Strong's Hebrew

1591. genebah -- a thing stolen
... 1590, 1591. genebah. 1592 . a thing stolen. Transliteration: genebah
Phonetic Spelling: (ghen-ay-baw') Short Definition: theft. ...
/hebrew/1591.htm - 6k

1589. ganab -- to steal
... root Definition to steal NASB Word Usage actually stolen (1), brought to me stealthily
(1), carries away (1), deceive (1), deceived (1), deceiving (1), fact ...
/hebrew/1589.htm - 6k

Library

The Stolen Boy --A Mother's Love.
... The Stolen Boy"A Mother's Love. There was a boy a great many years ago,
stolen in London, the same as Charley Ross was stolen here. ...
/.../moody/moodys anecdotes and illustrations/the stolen boya mothers love.htm

Corinthians iii. 21-23.
... They are ours, not as a thing stolen, and which will be taken from us with a heavy
over-payment of penalty, because we stole it when it did not belong to us ...
/.../arnold/the christian life/lecture vii corinthians iii 21-23.htm

From the Seventh to the End of the Tenth Commandment
... Do you believe they were very honest"never having stolen even the slightest
thing"up to a certain day, and at once became thieves by committing a highway ...
/.../kinkead/baltimore catechism no 4/lesson 34 from the seventh.htm

And on the Following Day, the Fourth Day of the Week...
... And Annas and Caiaphas say to Him: Tell us, why hast thou stolen our law, and
renounced [2036] the ordinances of Moses and the prophets? ...
/.../unknown/the narrative of joseph of arimathaea/chapter 2 and on the.htm

The Mystery of the Lost Brother
... They will say that we have stolen it, and then they will sell us all for slaves.". ...
You have stolen my master's silver cup, out of which he drinks'.". ...
/.../marshall/the wonder book of bible stories/the mystery of the lost.htm

Who are These Men who are Wont to Dispute at Such Great Length in ...
... we to believe that, when they preach in the churches, they do not preach the mysteries
of the Scriptures, but merely repeat what they have stolen from Origen? ...
/.../22 who are these men.htm

The Touch of Faith and the Touch of Christ
... She thinks that she may win her desire furtively, and may carry it away, and
He be none the wiser nor the poorer for the stolen blessing. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture b/the touch of faith and.htm

The Eighth Commandment
... he is resolved he will spread a table for himself, but it shall be at other men's
cost, and both first and second course shall be served in with stolen goods. ...
/.../watson/the ten commandments/2 8 the eighth commandment.htm

Eighth Commandment
... commission. The value of the thing that is stolen has nothing to say to
the guilt of the act. Two ... Him. STOLEN GOODS A BURDEN. I ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/weighed and wanting/eighth commandment.htm

Matt. xxvii. 62-64.
... as in the rest they cast aside shame, so in this too they might have been able to
say), that the soldiers, having given up the body to be stolen, gave His ...
/.../homilies on the gospel of saint matthew/homily lxxxix matt xxvii 62-64.htm

Thesaurus

Stolen (28 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Stolen (28 Occurrences). ... Genesis 31:19 And Laban went to
shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. ...
/s/stolen.htm - 15k

Stole (9 Occurrences)
... (KJV ASV WBS). Exodus 22:4 If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether
it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double. (Root in WEB DBY NAS NIV) ...
/s/stole.htm - 9k

Double (49 Occurrences)
... If a thief be caught with a living animal he was to restore double (Exodus 22:4);
if property be stolen out of the house of one to whom it is entrusted he was ...
/d/double.htm - 26k

Code (6 Occurrences)
... It was probably stolen from there by the Elamitic king Shutruk-Nakhunte, in the
12th century BC, at the time of the plundering of Babylon, and set up as a ...
/c/code.htm - 40k

Receiver (1 Occurrence)
... affairs, in certain cases. 3. (n.) One who takes or buys stolen goods
from a thief, knowing them to be stolen. 4. (n.) A vessel ...
/r/receiver.htm - 8k

Required (72 Occurrences)
... bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen
by day or stolen by night. (WEB DBY NAS RSV). Genesis 42 ...
/r/required.htm - 28k

Require (46 Occurrences)
... I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen
by night. (Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV). ...
/r/require.htm - 22k

Stealing (8 Occurrences)
... 3. (n.) That which is stolen; stolen property; -- chiefly used in the plural. Int.
Standard Bible Encyclopedia. STEALING. ste'-ling. See CRIMES; PUNISHMENTS. ...
/s/stealing.htm - 9k

Stealth (3 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) The act of stealing; theft. 3. (n.) The thing stolen; stolen property.
Multi-Version Concordance Stealth (3 Occurrences). ...
/s/stealth.htm - 7k

Torn (100 Occurrences)
... I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen
by night. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV). ...
/t/torn.htm - 37k

Resources

Why did people keep family idols in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What does the Bible say about restitution? | GotQuestions.org

What is sheep stealing? | GotQuestions.org

Stolen: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Stolen (28 Occurrences)

Galatians 2:4
Yet there was danger of this through the false brethren secretly introduced into the Church, who had stolen in to spy out the freedom which is ours in Christ Jesus, in order to rob us of it.
(WEY)

Genesis 30:33
So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be counted stolen."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 31:19
And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.
(KJV WBS)

Genesis 31:26
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?
(KJV ASV WBS)

Genesis 31:30
Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father's house, but why have you stolen my gods?"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Genesis 31:32
Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it." For Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 31:39
That which was torn of animals, I didn't bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Genesis 40:15
For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV)

Genesis 44:4
When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them,'Why have you rewarded evil for good?
(See RSV)

Exodus 22:2
If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him.
(See RSV)

Exodus 22:4
If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double.
(WEB DBY NIV)

Exodus 22:7
"If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man's house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 22:12
But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 6:4
then it shall be, if he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he hath gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was deposited with him, or the lost thing which he found,
(See NIV)

Deuteronomy 24:7
If a man be found who hath stolen one of his brethren of the children of Israel, and who hath treated him as a slave and sold him, that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst.
(DBY)

Joshua 7:11
Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 19:41
Behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, "Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away, and brought the king, and his household, over the Jordan, and all David's men with him?"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Samuel 21:12
David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 21:18
They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,
(YLT)

Job 24:2
There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
(See NIV)

Job 27:20
Overtake him as waters do terrors, By night stolen him away hath a whirlwind.
(YLT)

Psalms 62:10
Don't trust in oppression. Don't become vain in robbery. If riches increase, don't set your heart on them.
(See NIV)

Proverbs 9:17
"Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 30:9
Lest I become satiated, and have denied, And have said, 'Who 'is' Jehovah?' And lest I be poor, and have stolen, And have laid hold of the name of my God.
(YLT)

Song of Songs 4:9
You have taken away my heart, my sister, my bride; you have taken away my heart, with one look you have taken it, with one chain of your neck!
(See NIV)

Ezekiel 33:15
(The pledge the wicked restoreth, plunder he repayeth,) In the statutes of life he hath walked, So as not to do perversity, He surely liveth -- he doth not die.
(See NIV)

Obadiah 1:5
If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
(KJV DBY WBS)

Habakkuk 2:6
Won't all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say,'Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?'
(See NIV)

Subtopics

Stolen

Related Terms

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