Exo 22:4 | NETfull | STEP | 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.

Exodus 22:4

4 If the stolen item should in fact be found ^{▼▼ The construction uses a Niphal infinitive absolute and a Niphal imperfect: if it should indeed be found. Gesenius says that in such conditional clauses the infinitive absolute has less emphasis, but instead emphasizes the condition on which some consequence depends (see GKC 342-43 #113.o).} alive in his possession, ^{▼▼ Heb “in his hand.”} whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double. ^{▼▼ He must pay back one for what he took, and then one for the penalty – his loss as he was inflicting a loss on someone else.}