Watson, Thomas
Exodo 20:15
1. The internal causes are:(1) Unbelief. A man hath an high distrust of God's providence: "can God furnish a table in the
wilderness?" So saith the unbeliever, "can God spread a table for me? no, He cannot." Therefore 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.
(2) Covetousness. The Greek word for covetousness signifies "an immoderate desire of getting"; this is the root of theft. A man
covets more than his own, and this itch of covetousness makes him scratch what he can from another.
2. The external cause of theft is, Satan's solicitation: Judas was a thief; how came he to be a thief? "Satan entered into him."
The devil is the great master-thief, he robbed us of our coat of innocency, and he persuades men to take up his trade; he tells
men how bravely they shall live by thieving, and how they may catch an estate.
1. There is stealing from God; and so they are thieves, who rob any part of God's day from Him.
(1) A stealing away their souls; and so heretics are thieves, by robbing men of the truth, they rob them of their souls.
(2) A stealing away their money and goods from them; and under this head of stealing away other's money, there may be
several arraigned for thieves. The highway thief who takes a purse contrary to the letter of this Commandment. The house-thief,
who purloins and filches out of his master's cash, or steals his wares and drugs. The house-thief is a hypocrite, as well as a
thief; he hath demure looks, and pretends he is helping his master, when he only helps to rob him. The thief that shrouds
himself under law, as the unjust attorney or lawgiver, who prevaricates and deals falsely with his client. This is to steal from the
client. The church-thief or pluralist, who holds several benefices, but seldom or never preacheth to the people; he gets the
golden fleece, but lets his flock starve. The shop-thief; he steals in selling, who useth false weights and measures, and so steals
from others what is their due. The usurer who takes of others even to extortion; he seems to help another by letting him have
money in his necessity, but gets him into bonds, and sucks out his very blood and marrow. The feoffe in trust, who hath the
orphan's estate committed to him; he is deputed to be his guardian, and manage his estate for him, and he curtails the estate,
and gets a fleece out of it for himself, and wrongs the orphan. This is a thief; this is worse than taking a purse, because he
betrays his trust, which is the highest piece of treachery and injustice. The borrower, who borrows money from others, with an
intention never to pay them again. The receiver of stolen goods. The root would die if it were not watered, and thievery would
cease if it were not encouraged by the receiver.
3. To commit the sin of theft against checks of conscience, and examples of God's justice: this is like the dye to the wool, it doth
dye the sin of a crimson colour.
4. To rob the widow and orphan; "ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child"; it is a crying sin; "if they cry unto Me, I will
surely hear them."
( T. Watson.)
O que Deus proíbe no oitavo mandamento?
R: Deus não somente proíbe o furto e o roubo que as autoridades castigam, mas também classifica o como roubo todos os
maus propósitos e práticas maliciosas, por meio dos quais tentamos nos apropriar dos bens do próximo, seja por força, seja
por aparência de direito, a saber: falsificação de peso, de medida, de mercadoria e de moeda, quer por juros exorbitantes quer
por qualquer outro meio proibido por Deus. Também proíbe avareza, bem como todo abuso e desperdício de suas dádivas.
II. WE SHALL DO WRONG TO OUR FELLOW-MEN BY INFLICTING INJURY ON PROPERTY THAT IS OPEN, THROUGH
KINDNESS OF THE OWNERS, TO THE PUBLIC, as gardens, private picture-galleries, etc. It is mean, dishonourable, to do
hurt to such property.
2. By inferior weights.
4. By false pretences. The placing the best strawberries or apples on top of the measure, etc.
V. BREACHES OF TRUST.
VI. GAMBLING. Property is a trust. You have no right to squander your own, or to lead another to squander what he has in trust.
I. Stealing by FORGETFULNESS. People with these bad memories borrow things from their neighbours and friends, and forget
to return them. Now, to the persons who lend those things, it is just as bad as if a thief should come into their house and steal
them. Umbrellas, and books, and things of that kind are most likely to suffer in this way.
II. CUNNING, is another branch of it. Did you ever see a counterfeit bank-note? It passes for a good note, though it is not worth
a straw. And gold and silver coin are counterfeited in the same manner. The people who make them think themselves very
cunning. But they are not a bit better than thieves. But a great many other things may be counterfeited as well as money. When
God shall come to reckon with them at last, they will find that the real name for what they called smartness was stealing. This is
the name by which God calls it.
III. Those who break the Eighth Commandment by DECEIT. For instance, a lady goes into a shop to buy a dress. She finds one
of the colour she wants. If she could be sure that the colours would not fade she would take it. She says to the shopkeeper, "Will
these colours stand?" "Oh, yes, madam, they are the very best colours to wear. They will stand as long as the dress lasts." The
lady buys the dress on this assurance, though all the while the shopkeeper knows the colours will not stand at all. In this way he
steals the lady's money.
V. Those who break the Commandment by VIOLENCE and FRAUD. We must resist little temptations. Everything must have a
beginning. I remember reading once about a man who was going to be hung for robbery and murder. On the scaffold, he said
he began to steal by taking a farthing from his mother's pocket while she was asleep. Many children begin to steal at the sugar-
bowl or the cake-basket. To take the smallest thing that does not belong to us, without permission, is stealing. And, then, there
is another thing to do: we must pray to God to keep us from temptation.
1. Stealing. Appropriating a man's property against the will of the owner. All
condemn the thief, he is condemned even by his own conscience; however
much he may steal from others he can never think it right for them to steal from
him! There are, however, various kinds of diluted theft which are equally
offences against the eighth commandment, though not so strongly stigmatised
by society.
2. Cognate offences. Property in the old times consisted mainly of land, crops,
and cattle. The principle involved in the eighth commandment illustrated, as
applied to them, by a number of cases in Exodus 21., 22., all such acts as result
in loss to one's neighbours, provided that loss was not inevitable, are
condemned by it. Circumstances, nowadays, are somewhat different, but the
principle of honesty still applies. Take a few instances: -
(a) When in a bargain one party takes advantage of the ignorance of the other;
e.g., a collector finds some rarity in the possession of a man who does not
know its value, and secures it far below its proper price.
(b) Borrowing without definite intention to return; e.g., books, money, or other
property.
(c) Leaving bills unpaid for a needlessly long time. In such case, even though
paid eventually, the creditor is defrauded of the profit which he might have
made by the use of his money.
(3) Culpable negligence. Must be as careful with the property of others as with
our own property. A pure accident is not a pure accident if it would not have
happened had the property been our own.
True Honesty
Biblical Illustrator
Exodus 20:15
You shall not steal.
There is an anecdote told of a brave general of the American Revolution, that he one day overheard the remark of a grandson,
that "he hoped to be middling honest." The old gentleman stopped, turned short upon the speaker, and broke out: "What is that I
hear? Middling honest! let me never hear again such a word from your lips. Strictly honest is the only thing you ought ever to
think of being."
True Honesty
Biblical Illustrator
Exodus 20:15
You shall not steal.
There is an anecdote told of a brave general of the American Revolution, that he one day overheard the remark of a grandson,
that "he hoped to be middling honest." The old gentleman stopped, turned short upon the speaker, and broke out: "What is that I
hear? Middling honest! let me never hear again such a word from your lips. Strictly honest is the only thing you ought ever to
think of being."
1. His life is to be held sacred. It is God's great gift to him and it is God's only to take it away, by express command, or by his
own judgment. This is a law for nations as well as individuals. In every unjust war this command is trampled under foot.
2. His home is sacred. The wreck of homes which lust has made! The holy, loving refuge of childhood and youth desolated,
and its very memory made a horror and anguish!
3. His property is sacred. It is the man's special stewardship from God. God can bless us also, for all things are his, but this
stands between our neighbour and the Master, to whom he must render his account.
II. HE IS NOT TO BE INJURED BY WORD. We may lay no hand upon his life, his home, his goods, and yet our tongue may
wound and rob him. We may cause respect and love to fall away from him wrongfully. Our dimininishing aught of these, save as
the servants of truth, is a crime before God.
III. HE IS NOT TO BE WRONGED IN THOUGHT. God asks not only for a blameless life but also for a pure heart, in which lust
and hate and envy and greed have no place. Sin is to be slain in its root. - U.
1. His life is to be held sacred. It is God's great gift to him and it is God's only to take it away, by express command, or by his
own judgment. This is a law for nations as well as individuals. In every unjust war this command is trampled under foot.
2. His home is sacred. The wreck of homes which lust has made! The holy, loving refuge of childhood and youth desolated,
and its very memory made a horror and anguish!
3. His property is sacred. It is the man's special stewardship from God. God can bless us also, for all things are his, but this
stands between our neighbour and the Master, to whom he must render his account.
II. HE IS NOT TO BE INJURED BY WORD. We may lay no hand upon his life, his home, his goods, and yet our tongue may
wound and rob him. We may cause respect and love to fall away from him wrongfully. Our dimininishing aught of these, save as
the servants of truth, is a crime before God.
III. HE IS NOT TO BE WRONGED IN THOUGHT. God asks not only for a blameless life but also for a pure heart, in which lust
and hate and envy and greed have no place. Sin is to be slain in its root. - U.
It is hardly necessary to quote from the prophets passages illustrative of these duties: but Hosea 4:2, Jeremiah 7:9 are particularly worth
referring to.
15. O oitavo mandamento. Os direitos da propriedade privada devem ser respeitados. Cf. em H Levítico 19:11. Pelas penalidades pelo
roubo, ver Êxodo 21:16, Êxodo 22: 1.
Não é necessário citar as passagens dos profetas que ilustram esses deveres: mas Oséias 4: 2, Jeremias 7: 9 são particularmente
dignos de referência.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 15. - Thou shalt not steal. By these words the right of property received formal acknowledgment, and a protest was made by
anticipation against the maxim of modern socialists - "La propriete, c'est le vol." Instinctively man feels that some things become his,
especially by toil expended on them, and that, by parity of reasoning, some things become his neighbour's. Our third duty towards our
neighbour is to respect his rights in these. Society, in every community that has hitherto existed, has recognised private pro-petty; and
social order may be said to be built upon it. Government exists mainly for the security of men's lives and properties; and anarchy would
supervene if either could be with impunity attacked. Theft has always been punished in every state; and even the Spartan youth was not
acquitted of blame unless he could plead that the State had stopped his supplies of food, and bid him forage for himself.
Não roubarás. Por essas palavras, o direito de propriedade recebeu reconhecimento formal, e um protesto foi feito por
antecipação contra a máxima dos socialistas modernos - "La propriete, c'est le vol." Instintivamente, o homem sente que
algumas coisas tornam-se dele, especialmente pela fadiga exercida sobre elas, e que, pela paridade do raciocínio, algumas
coisas se tornam do seu vizinho. Nosso terceiro dever para com o próximo é respeitar seus direitos neles. A sociedade, em
toda comunidade que até então existia, reconheceu os interesses privados; e pode-se dizer que a ordem social é construída
sobre ela. O governo existe principalmente para a segurança da vida e das propriedades dos homens; e a anarquia sobreviria
se qualquer um pudesse ser impunemente atacado. O roubo sempre foi punido em todos os estados; e até mesmo o jovem
espartano não foi absolvido da culpa, a menos que pudesse alegar que o Estado havia interrompido o suprimento de comida e
forçou-o a procurar alimento para si mesmo.
But instead of this objective ground for the sabbatical festival, which furnished the true idea of the Sabbath, when Moses recapitulated
the decalogue, he adduced only the subjective aspect of rest or refreshing (Deuteronomy 5:14-15), reminding the people, just as in
Exodus 23:12, of their bondage in Egypt and their deliverance from it by the strong arm of Jehovah, and then adding, "therefore (that
thou mightest remember this deliverance from bondage) Jehovah commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day." This is not at variance
with the reason given in the present verse, but simply gives prominence to a subjective aspect, which was peculiarly adapted to warm the
hearts of the people towards the observance of the Sabbath, and to render the Sabbath rest dear to the people, since it served to keep
the Israelites constantly in mind of the rest which Jehovah had procured for them from the slave labour of Egypt. For resting from every
work is the basis of the observance of the Sabbath; but this observance is an institution peculiar to the Old Testament, and not to be met
with in any other nation, though there are many among whom the division of weeks occurs. The observance of the Sabbath, by being
adopted into the decalogue, was made the foundation of all the festal times and observances of the Israelites, as they all culminated in
the Sabbath rest. At the same time, as an ἐντολὴ τοῦ νόμον, an ingredient in the Sinaitic law, it belonged to the "shadow of (good) things
to come" (Colossians 2:17, cf. Hebrews 10:1), which was to be done away when the "body" in Christ had come. Christ is Lord of the
Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), and after the completion of His work, He also rested on the Sabbath. But He rose again on the Sunday; and
through His resurrection, which is the pledge to the world of the fruits of His redeeming work, He has made this day the κυριακὴ ἡμέρα
(Lord's day) for His Church, to be observed by it till the Captain of its salvation shall return, and having finished the judgment upon all His
foes to the very last shall lead it to the rest of that eternal Sabbath, which God prepared for the whole creation through His own resting
after the completion of the heaven and the earth.
`
Exodus 20:15. Thou shalt not steal — This command forbids us to rob ourselves of what we have, by sinful spending, or of the use and
comfort of it, by sinful sparing; and to rob others by invading our neighbour’s rights, taking his goods, or house, or field, forcibly or
clandestinely, overreaching in bargains, not restoring what is borrowed or found, withholding just debts, rents, or wages; and, which is
worst of all, to rob the public in the coin or revenue, or that which is dedicated to the service of religion.
Êxodo 20:15 Não furtarás - Esta ordem nos proíbe de nos roubar o que temos, por gastos pecaminosos, ou pelo uso e conforto
disto, por poupanças pecaminosas; e roubar os outros invadindo os direitos de nossos vizinhos, pegando seus bens, casa ou
campo, forçosamente ou clandestinamente, extrapolando barganhas, não restaurando o que é emprestado ou encontrado,
retendo apenas dívidas, aluguéis ou salários; e, o que é pior de tudo, roubar o público da moeda ou da receita, ou o que é
dedicado ao serviço da religião.
Não furtarás. Que é tirar a propriedade de outro homem pela força ou fraude, sem o conhecimento, e contra a vontade do seu dono. Os
roubos são de vários tipos; há roubo particular, coleta de bolsos, furto em lojas, arrombamento ou invasão de casas à noite e
carregamento de mercadorias; roubo público ou roubo nas estradas; roubo doméstico, como quando as esposas tiram o dinheiro ou os
bens de seus maridos e os ocultam, ou os livram sem o conhecimento e a vontade deles, os filhos roubam seus pais e os servos
roubam os efeitos de seus senhores; roubo ou sacrilégio eclesiásticos, e roubo pessoal, como roubo de homens e escravos deles,
vendendo-os contra suas vontades; e Jarchi pensa que é disso que as Escrituras falam quando usa esta frase; mas, embora isso possa
ser incluído, não pode ser restringido a esse particular, pois, além do que foi observado, há muitas outras coisas que podem ser
reduzidas a ele e são violações dele; como todos os excessos e contornos no comércio e comércio, contratos injustos, não fazendo
pagamentos bons e efetivos, detenção de salários de servos, usura ilegal, infidelidade com relação a qualquer coisa depositada nas
mãos de um homem, aconselhando e encorajando ladrões, e recebendo deles: o caso dos israelitas tomar emprestado dos egípcios e
estragá-los não deve ser objetado a esta lei, uma vez que foi por ordem de Deus, e estava apenas tomando o que lhes era devido pelo
serviço; entretanto, por essa ordem, Deus deixou que os israelitas soubessem que se tratava de um caso peculiar, e não de ser levado
a um exemplo, e que, em outros casos, não deveriam tirar a propriedade de outro homem; e assim, o caso do roubo de um homem
faminto para satisfazer a natureza não é observado como lícito e louvável, mas como aquilo que é conivente e tolerante, Provérbios
6:30, esta lei obriga a preservar e assegurar a propriedade de cada homem a si mesmo, tanto quanto nos homens mentiras: este é o
oitavo mandamento.