Does the Decalogue Prohibit Stealing?
Generally translated as “do not steal,” the Rabbis make a compelling case for understanding lo tignov in the Decalogue to be a prohibition against the more serious offense of kidnapping, or, in modern terms, human trafficking.
Published: January 26, 2016
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Last Updated: September 7, 2026
See, for example, Midrash Tannaim (Deut 24:7) b. Sanhedrin 86a. See, however, b. Baba Metzia 61b, which seems to interpret it as theft. Second Temple literature also understands the verse to mean theft, see the LXX translation as well as Philo’s discussion in De Decalogo134-137.
לא תגנבו – אזהרה לגונב ממון, אבל לא תגנוב (שמות כ יג) שבעשרת הדברות, אזהרה לגונב נפשות, דבר הלמד מענינו, דבר שחייבין עליו מיתתבית דין
The fact that Joseph’s brothers did not receive the death penalty for the crime became the basis of a late midrash describing the fate of ten rabbinic martyrs at the hands of the Romans, which in turn entered the Ashkenazi liturgy for Tisha B’av and Yom Kippur in the mediaeval period as the piyyut ‘eleh ezkerah’.
See, for example, A. Philips, “The Decalogue—Ancient Israel’s Criminal Law,” Journal of Jewish Studies 34 (1983): 1-20.
See Edward Robertson, The Old Testament Problem: A Re-investigation, Together with Two Other Essays (Manchester University Press, 1950), 93 [n. 1];
One additional factor may also be relevant, namely the emphasis in the Hebrew Bible on individual freedom. Thus, the very first element addressed in the list of mishpatim (Exodus 21; 1-11), includes laws releasing Hebrew slaves in seventh year. Kidnapping is the ultimate undermining of the “freedom” principle.
It also divided between property owner (awilum) and peasants (mushkenum) but that is neither here nor there for this piece.
