Exodus 22:3

Hebrew Bible

2 “If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him. 3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. 4 If the stolen item should in fact be found alive in his possession, whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double.

Onkelos Exodus 22:2

Targum

1 If a thief be found breaking through, and he be smitten and die, there shall be no blood due to him. 2 If the eyes of witnesses fall upon him, blood shall be due to him, paying he shall pay. If he have nothing, he shall be sold for his robbery. 3 If the thing stolen, from an ox to an ass, be found in his possession, they being alive, he shall restore two for one.

 Notes and References

"... Onkelos interprets the biblical metaphor, 'if the sun be upon him.' Nachmanides explains our targumist as saying that if it is nighttime and no witnesses can identify the thief, there is a danger that the thief will kill the homeowner to escape detection. But if the sun is shining 'and the eye of witnesses fell upon him,' and he could be identified as the thief, it would be unlikely for him to murder the homeowner. In the latter case, if the homeowner kills him, he is culpable. Rashi understands the Targum to mean that if witnesses found the thief before the homeowner approached and warned the homeowner not to kill the thief, he would be culpable if he killed him. Rashi's own understanding of the biblical phrase is that if it was as 'clear as sunlight' that the thief would not murder the homeowner, as in the case of a father who is burglarizing his son's home, then the homeowner is culpable if he kills the thief ..."

Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (p. 143) Gefen, 2006

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