In our translation of this verse, by rendering different Hebrew words by the same term in English, we have greatly obscured the sense. I shall produce the verse with the original words which I think improperly translated, because one English term is used for two Hebrew words, which in this place certainly do not mean the same thing. If a man shall steal an ox ( rw� shor) or a sheep, ( h� seh,) and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen ( rqb bakar) for an ox, ( rw� shor,) and four sheep ( ax tson) for a sheep ( h� seh.) I think it must appear evident that the sacred writer did not intend that these words should be understood as above. A shor certainly is different from a bakar, and a seh from a tson. Where the difference in every case lies, wherever these words occur, it is difficult to say. The shor and the bakar are doubtless creatures of the beeve kind, and are used in different parts of the sacred writings to signify the bull, the ox, the heifer, the steer, and the calf. The seh and the tson are used to signify the ram, the wether, the ewe, the lamb, the he-goat, the she-goat, and the kid. And the latter word ax tson seems frequently to signify the flock, composed of either of these lesser cattle, or both sorts conjoined.

As rw� shor is used, Job xxi. 10, for a bull probably it may mean so here. If a man steal a BULL he shall give five OXEN for him, which we may presume was no more than his real value, as very few bulls could be kept in a country destitute of horses, where oxen were so necessary to till the ground. For though some have imagined that there were no castrated cattle among the Jews, yet this cannot be admitted on the above reason; for as they had no horses, and bulls would have been unmanageable and dangerous, they must have had oxen for the purposes of agriculture. Tson ax is used for a flock either of sheep or goats, and seh h� for an individual of either species. For every seh, four, taken indifferently from the tson or flock must be given; i.e., a sheep stolen might be recompensed with four out of the flock, whether of sheep or goats: so that a goat might be compensated with four sheep, or a sheep with four goats.

Matthew Henry Commentary

--The people of God should ever be ready to show mildness and mercy according to the spirit of these laws. We must answer to God, not onl for what we do maliciously, but for what we do heedlessly. Therefore when we have done harm to our neighbour, we should make restitution though not compelled by law. Let these scriptures lead our souls to remember, that if the grace of God has indeed appeared to us, then i has taught us, and enabled us so to conduct ourselves by its holy power, that denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should liv soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, Tit 2:12. An the grace of God teaches us, that as the Lord is our portion, there is enough in him to satisfy all the desires of our souls __________________________________________________________________

Original Hebrew