“Thou shalt not steal.” When we talk about the 10 commandments, most of us can most easily list this one. I can’t imagine any of us would not get behind the idea of “no stealing.” This eighth commandment of 10 listed in Exodus 20 tells us not to interfere with any property belonging to others.
We can think of many examples of this. Don’t take goods and items from convenience stores. Many such establishments will post signs about jail time or fines accompanying shoplifting. Or we may say, “don’t embezzle funds,” a sneakier kind of stealing.
But does this command mean far more than meets the eye? In this article, we’ll explore what stealing is according to the Bible, unique instances of the Old Testament usage of the word “steal,” and ways Christians unexpectedly break this commandment. Let’s dive in.
What Does Thou Shalt Not Steal Mean?
What does “thou shalt not steal” mean in the Bible? Let’s break down the word “steal” (Exodus 20:15).
Ganab means to literally, in stealth, take or carry something away. Implicated in the verse, this means something that doesn’t belong to you. Seems pretty straightforward. Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you. We learned this lesson in elementary school.
But God thought it important enough to include in the 10 commandments, and it has far more implications than simply stealing objects. Before diving into that, we ought to examine the structure of the Ten Commandments and the necessity of the eighth command.
Structure of the First Three Commandments
The first three commandments involve how we show love to God. We do so by:
1. Not having other gods. We worship Yahweh alone and don’t worship anything else. This can also transfer to immaterial objects such as money, wealth, and sex.
2. Not having other idols or graven images.
3. Not swearing something in God’s name and not following through with it. We let our yes be yes, and our no be no.
This moves us on to the next structure of the decalogue.
Structure of the Last Seven Commandments
I won’t list all of them, but they all involve showing love to other people—to our neighbors. We don’t slander them. We don’t murder them. We don’t covet what they have.
Jesus, in the New Testament, boils this all down to two commands.
How Jesus Breaks It Down in the New Testament
Love God and love others (Matthew 22).
If we love God, we will love others in our actions. We will see others as made in the image of God. So why do we still break these commandments all the time?
The Root of Breaking These Commandments?
Pride is the root of all sin. Every transgression stems from this. We ought to understand biblical pride. It’s not cockiness; it’s assuming you know better than God does.
In the context of stealing, it assumes you don’t like what God has provided you, and you have decided to take some for yourself. With this in mind, let’s look at examples the Bible lists under the commandment of “thou shalt not steal.”
What Does the Bible Say about Stealing?
In the Old Testament, we witness several instances of ganab. Let’s explore some of these, and in the final section, explore some modern ways Christians may indulge in stealing.
Stolen Goods (Genesis 31:19)
The most obvious example to us. When someone steals something that doesn’t belong to them. In the verse above, Jacob’s wife takes Laban’s idols from his household.
Stolen People (Genesis 40:15)
The Old Testament has capital punishment reserved for those in Israel to take another Israelite as a slave. In the verse above, Joseph talks about how someone ganab him. Someone stole him and enslaved him for several years.
Stolen Land (Micah 2:2)
I think about Naboth’s vineyard and how Jezebel had him killed to take the land that doesn’t belong to her.
Stolen Hearts (2 Samuel 15:6)
Absalom steals the hearts of the Israelite people and turns them against David. Absalom was not the right heir to the throne, but he decided to take matters into his own hands. He stole control and stole the heirship.
Stolen Words (Jeremiah 23:30)
Stealing God’s words and putting an improper translation to them. God’s anger burns against false prophets who twist the word of God for money.
As we can see, stealing applies to far more than objects. For modern-day Christians, this presents some clear applications. We can view stealing as “the pride to take away something that belongs to someone else.”
What Are Unexpected Ways Christians Can Steal?
Christians probably steal more often than they’d like to admit. Below I’ve listed a few examples, but this list is by no means comprehensive. If you’ve worried about committing this sin, ask God to open the eyes of your heart and examine where you’ve taken what doesn’t belong to you.
Stealing Time
This can be broken up into multiple areas. If we think about it, God gives us the gift of time. We receive an appointment number of hours, days, and years.
If we steal someone’s time, we take away what God has rightfully gifted them. This can look like showing up late to meetings and appointments. This can also look like spending longer on lunch breaks or work breaks, stealing our employer’s time and money.
This can also mean stealing time from God. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Do we allow distractions to take us away from the time he deserves?
Stealing Work
My family attended a church during my childhood where my parents noticed that a pastor’s sermons sounded familiar. Turned out, he’d been stealing them from other pastors and passing them off as his own. Although he blamed a lack of time for creating his own, the church didn’t deal too kindly with this situation. Why? Because he stole someone else’s work.
The same applies to plagiarism. Even if Christians hope to spread the Gospel through music, writing, film, etc., if they take something that doesn’t belong to them without proper attribution, they have stolen something.
Stealing Joy and Peace
God gives many people joy and peace. But do you take these away from your brothers and sisters? Do you plant worry in their brains or try to take away their joy because you do not have joy? There’s a difference between grace-filled correction and stealing peace. Conviction from the Holy Spirit does tend to cut us deep, but it often leaves us with a sense of peace. A Christian attempting to correct without the Holy Spirit's guidance may rob someone of their peace.
This can manifest in unexpected ways that slip beyond our own radar. Although the Bible does allow us to explore our emotions—Jesus himself felt anger and sadness—stealing joy and peace looks different. It’s a deliberate action to rob someone of a divine gift because we are not currently experiencing that gift.
How Can We Respond to Christian Theft?
If we truly examine ourselves, we can probably find areas where we steal what does not belong to us.
We oppose stealing with gratitude. Pride tells us that God has not given us everything we deserve, and we ought to take matters into our own hands. Gratitude tells us that God has given us abundantly more than we could ask or hope for and that he provides for our every need.
For instance, if we steal time from people, we make sure to budget extra time in our schedule for traffic jams and getting ready so we do not arrive late. We give God the time he deserves and our employers the time they deserve. We render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and God what is God’s.
Let us, brothers and sisters, exercise gratitude today and give back what we have stolen.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ivan Sherstiuk
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in relation to your life today.
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