Exodus 20 · Verse 15

Exodus 20:15

Thou shalt not steal.
Exodus 20:15, King James Version

Exodus 20:15 in other translations

BSBYou shall not steal.
WEB“You shall not steal.
ASVThou shalt not steal.
YLT‘Thou dost not steal.
DARBYThou shalt not steal.
BBEDo not take the property of another.
WebsterThou shalt not steal.

What does Exodus 20:15 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 15 Thou shalt not steal - All rapine and theft are forbidden by this precept; as well national and commercial wrongs as petty larceny, highway robberies, and private stealing: even the taking advantage of a seller's or buyer's ignorance, to give the one less and make the other pay more for a commodity than its worth, is a breach of this sacred law. All withholding of rights and doing of wrongs are against the spirit of it. But the word is principally applicable to clandestine stealing, though it may undoubtedly include all political injustice and private wrongs. And consequently all kidnapping, crimping, and slave-dealing are prohibited here, whether practiced by individuals or by the state. Crimes are not lessened in their demerit by the number, or political importance of those who commit them. A state that enacts bad laws is as criminal before God as the individual who breaks good ones. It has been supposed that under the eighth commandment, injuries done to character, the depriving a man of his reputation or good name, are included, hence those words of one of our poets: - Good name in man or woman Is the immediate jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse steals trash, - But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 20:12-17

The laws of the SECOND table, that is, the last six of the ten commandments, state our duty to ourselves and to one another, and explain the great commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, Lu 10:27. Godliness and honesty must go together. The fifth commandment concerns the duties we owe to our relations. Honour thy father and thy mother, includes esteem of them, shown in our conduct; obedience to their…

Read the full comment on Exodus 20:12-17 →

Exodus 20:15 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹ֣֖אlo'notH3808
תִּֿגְנֹֽ֔ב\׃\ \סtge.Noyou must stealH1589

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 20:15

  • Romans 13:9

    For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

  • Ephesians 4:28

    Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

  • Leviticus 19:11

    Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

  • Leviticus 19:13

    Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

  • Matthew 19:18

    He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

  • 1 Corinthians 6:10

    Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

  • Proverbs 1:13-15

    We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

  • Leviticus 6:1-7

    And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour; Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein: Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, …

  • John 12:6

    This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

  • Proverbs 11:1

    A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.

  • Amos 8:4-6

    Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

  • Leviticus 19:35-37

    Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
21:16; Le 6:1-7; 19:11,13,35-37; De 24:7; 25:13-16; Job 20:19-22
Pr 1:13-15; 11:1; Am 3:10; 8:4-6; Mic 6:10,11; 7:3; Zec 5:3,4
Mt 15:19; 19:18; 21:13; Lu 3:13,14; Joh 12:6; 1Co 6:10; Eph 4:28
1Th 4:6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 20:14

    Thou shalt not commit adultery.

  • Exodus 20:15

    Thou shalt not steal.

  • Exodus 20:16

    Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Read all of Exodus 20

Exodus 20:15 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
No hurtarás.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Tu ne déroberas point.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Du sollst nicht stehlen. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Non furtum facies.