Exodus 22 · Verse 6

Exodus 22:6

If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
Exodus 22:6, King James Version

Exodus 22:6 in other translations

BSBIf a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.
WEB“If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
ASVIf fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
YLT‘When fire goeth forth, and hath found thorns, and a stack, or the standing corn, or the field, hath been consumed, he who causeth the burning doth certainly repay.
DARBY— If fire break out, and seize the thorns, and the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field be consumed, he that kindled the fire shall fully make it good.
BBEIf there is a fire and the flames get to the thorns at the edge of the field, causing destruction of the cut grain or of the living grain, or of the field, he who made the fire will have to make up for the damage.
WebsterIf fire shall break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field shall be consumed; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

What does Exodus 22:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. If fire break out, and catch in thorns--This refers to the common practice in the East of setting fire to the dry grass before the fall of the autumnal rains, which prevents the ravages of vermin, and is considered a good preparation of the ground for the next crop. The very parched state of the herbage and the long droughts of summer, make the kindling of a fire an operation often dangerous, and always requiring caution from its liability to spread rapidly. stacks--or as it is rendered "shocks" (Jud 15:5; Job 5:26), means simply a bundle of loose sheaves.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 If fire break out - Mr. Harmer observes that it is a common custom in the east to set the dry herbage on fire before the autumnal rains, which fires, for want of care, often do great damage: and in countries where great drought prevails, and the herbage is generally parched, great caution was peculiarly necessary; and a law to guard against such evils, and to punish inattention and neglect, was highly expedient. See Harmer's Observat., vol. iii., p. 310, etc.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Exodus 22:6 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.

כִּֽי\־ki-ifH3588
תֵצֵ֨אte.Tze'it will go forthH3318
אֵ֜שׁ'esha fireH784
וּמָצְאָ֤הu.ma.tze.'Ahand it will findH4672
קֹצִים֙ko.TzimthornbushesH6975
וְנֶאֱכַ֣לve.ne.'e.Khaland it will be consumedH398
גָּדִ֔ישׁga.Disha heap of sheavesH1430
א֥וֹ'oorH176
הַקָּמָ֖הha.ka.Mahthe standing grainH7054
א֣וֹ'oorH176
הַשָּׂדֶ֑הha.sa.Dehthe fieldH7704
שַׁלֵּ֣םsha.Lemcertainly <make compensation>H7999
יְשַׁלֵּ֔םye.sha.Lemhe will make compensationH7999
הַמַּבְעִ֖רha.mav.'Irthe [one who] kindledH1197
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַבְּעֵרָֽה\׃\ \סha.be.'e.Rahthe fireH1200

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

Cross references for Exodus 22:6

  • Exodus 22:9

    For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.

  • Judges 15:4-5

    And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.

  • Exodus 22:12

    And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.

  • 2 Samuel 14:30-31

    Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?

  • Exodus 21:33-34

    And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein; The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
If fire break out.Mr. Harmer observes, that it is a common custom in the East to set the dry herbage on fire; which fires, from want of care, often produce great damage. Hence a law to guard against such evils was highly expedient.
so that the stacks of corn.
Jud 15:4,5; 2Sa 14:30,31
he that kindled the fire.
9,12; 21:33,34

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

Context

  • Exodus 22:5

    If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.

  • Exodus 22:6

    If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

  • Exodus 22:7

    If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.

Read all of Exodus 22

Exodus 22:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Cuando rompiere un fuego, y hallare espinas, y fuere quemado montón, ó haza, ó campo, el que encendió el fuego pagará lo quemado.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Si quelqu’un donne à son prochain de l’argent ou des objets à garder, et qu’ils soient volés de la maison de cet homme, si le voleur est trouvé, il fera compensation au double.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn Feuer ausbricht und Dornen erreicht, und es wird ein Garbenhaufen verzehrt, oder das stehende Getreide oder das Feld, so soll der gewißlich erstatten, der den Brand angezündet hat.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Si egressus ignis invenerit spinas, et comprehenderit acervos frugum, sive stantes segetes in agris, reddet damnum qui ignem succenderit.