Proverbs 6:31

Pro 6:31 But [if] he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

Ver. 31. He shall restore sevenfold,] i.e., Manifold, according as the law limiteth, though it be to the utmost of what the thief is worth. But what restitution can the adulterer make, should he make him amends with as much more? The thief steals out of want; the adulterer of wantonness.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

sevenfold--(compare Exo 22:1-4), for many, ample (compare Gen 4:24; Mat 18:21), even if all his wealth is taken.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(31) But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold.—Rather, And if he be found, he may restore sevenfold, he may give up all the wealth of his house. The law only required a two—or four—or fivefold compensation (Exodus 22); he may do even more. “Sevenfold” signifies full restitution. (Comp. Gen_4:24 : Lev_26:28.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. sevenfold] This cannot refer to the legal penalty for theft, which was in no case greater than five times the value of the thing stolen (Exo_22:1-4. Comp. Luk_19:8). It had been suggested that the case contemplated in the second clause of the verse is different from that in the first: here is a man, who so far from being driven by abject poverty to steal in order to satisfy his hunger, is able and will be required to pay more than the law demanded (sevenfold) in order to avoid the shame of exposure. It is better, however, to understand sevenfold as a general term, meaning in full measure (comp. Gen_4:15; Lev_26:28; Mat_18:21). This explanation obviates the objection that if he had to steal for bread he could not pay sevenfold, because the full measure of the law was, “if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft” (Exo_22:3, comp. Mat_18:25).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But whoso committeth adultery with a woman,.... Which is a greater degree of theft than the former, it being the stealing of another man's wife;

lacketh understanding; or "an heart" (t); the thief lacks bread, and therefore steals, but this man lacks wisdom, and therefore acts so foolish a part; the one does it to satisfy hunger, the other a brutish lust;

he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul; is liable to have his life taken away by the husband of the adulteress; so according to Solon's law (u) the adulterer taken in the act might be killed by the husband: or by the civil magistrate; for according to the law of. Moses he was to die, either to be strangled or stoned; see Gill on Joh 8:5; and besides, he not only ruins the natural faculties of his soul, besotting, corrupting, and depraving that, giving his heart to a whore, but brings eternal destruction on it; yet so foolish is he, though it issues in the ruin of his precious soul; "he does this" (w), for so the first part of this clause, which stands last in the original text, may be rendered.

(t) "deficit corde", Pagninus, Montanus; "caret corde", Mercerus, Gejerus; so Michaelis. (u) Plutarch. in Vita Solon. p. 90. (w) "ipse faeiet illud", Montanus; "ipse faciet hoc", so some in Vatablus; "is id faciet, sive facit", Cocceius; "ille facit id", Michaelis; "is patrabit illud", Schultens.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Seven-fold. Or as much as may be required. The law never subjected the thief to restore above five-fold. If he had not enough, his person might be sold. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He shall restore seven-fold.

Quest. How doth this agree with God’s law, which required only that he should restore double, or at most fourfold, or fivefold? Exo 22:1-4.

Answ. 1. The number of seven may be here put indefinitely for many times, as it is Gen 4:24; Lev 26:28, and in many other places.

2. Some think that as thefts were multiplied, so the punishment of it was increased, in Solomon’s time; or, at least, that it was the practice of some nations to require this sevenfold restitution.

3. He speaks not of that restitution which the law required, but of that which either the wronged person being potent might force the thief to make, or which the thief would willingly give rather than be exposed to public shame; as appears by the following clause, wherein he adds to this sevenfold restitution

all his substance, which no law of God or man required. See Poole "Exo 22:4".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

But if he be taken, he shill restore sevenfold. Men do not despise the thief, but yet they apprehend him and insist on fullest restitution. Be found; i.e. seized (Delitzsch), or legally convicted (Gejerus). He shall restore; i.e. he must restore (Zockler). Delitzsch, however, understands the future, y"shalem, as potential, "he may restore." Sevenfold; Hebrew, siv"athayim; LXX, eptaplasia ; Vulgate, septulum. On this word Geier remarks, "Haec vox nullibi in sacris ponitur pio numero definito;" i.e. "It is nowhere put in Scripture for a definite number." It is therefore to be understood indefinitely of complete restitution, or, as it is expressed in the second and parallel clauses, "all the substance of his house." The word is used in this sense in Gen_4:24 Lev_26:28 Job_5:19 (Lapide). Theft under the Mosaic Law was punishable by a fivefold, fourfold, and twofold restitution, (Exo_22:1-4, Exo_22:9) and, in the event of this not forthcoming, the delinquent was to be sold into slavery. (Lev_25:39) In 2Sa_12:6 a fourfold restitution is mentioned, and in the New Testament Zacchaeus promises to restore fourfold if he could be convicted of fraud. (Luk_19:8) In the attempts to reconcile the "sevenfold" of our passage with the requirements of the Mosaic Law, Aben Ezra says that the combined penalties for two cases of theft are contemplated, and others that in the time of the writer the penalties had been increased. But proof of this is wanting. Grotius"s explanation is more curious than correct, viz. that if the theft be repeated seven times, and he be "taken" seven times, the thief should only be punished by being forced to make restitution with some addition. Both the Greek and Roman law demanded a twofold restitution. Selden maintains that theft would have been subjected to the usual punishment (Selden, "De Jure Not. et Gent.," 6, 100, 6). We may therefore come to the conclusion that "sevenfold" is used in the sense indicated above. As to any objection which may be raised on the seem of inconsistency in talking of a man malting restitution, and giving all his substance when he steals to satisfy his hunger, it may be remarked that he need not necessarily be without substance of some sort or other, and he could acquire subsequently sufficient to satisfy the demand. On the question whether a person is justified by extreme want in stealing, see Grotius, "De Jure Belli et Pacis," 2, 100, 2, Puffendorf, "De Jure Not. et Gent," 2, 100, 6, Blackstone, "Commentary," 4:2

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Restore - He speaks not of that restitution which the law required, but of that which either the wronged person might force the thief to make, or which the thief would willingly give rather than be exposed to public shame.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.