Is it always wrong to steal?
Prohibitions on theft stand beside authorized plunder, though a reported theft and a willingly granted transfer do not automatically prove divine approval of stealing.
- Textual conflict
- Interpretive tension
- The passages pull in different directions, but the conflict depends on how their wording, scope, or narrative context is read.
- Importance
- Foundational
- A central claim about origins, salvation, divine justice, or religious authority.
Authorized retaliatory plunder strains broad property prohibitions, though warfare and willingly transferred goods introduce legal distinctions.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Stealing robbery and failure to repay are condemned
Thou shalt not steal.
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,
Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
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.
Neither shalt thou steal.
The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
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.
That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
God authorizes plunder and narratives record taking others' possessions
And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.
But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.
And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God.
Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
But their enemies she drowned in the sea, and from the depth of hell she brought them out. Therefore the just took the spoils of the wicked.
Understanding the contradiction
Exodus 20:15 prohibits stealing, while Leviticus 19:13 also forbids robbery and withholding wages. Psalms 37:21 condemns borrowing without repayment. Exodus 3:22 and Exodus 12:35-36 describe borrowing Egyptian valuables and spoiling the Egyptians, creating tension with that repayment standard. The latter passage also says the Egyptians willingly lent the requested goods; it does not narrate repayment or explicitly classify the transfer as theft.
Genesis 31:19 directly says Rachel stole images, but recording her act does not authorize it. Ezekiel 39:9-10 is stronger evidence of an opposing norm because God says Israel will rob those who robbed it. Nahum 2:9 likewise calls for taking spoil. The supported conflict concerns permission to seize property in judgment or warfare alongside broad prohibitions on robbery. The passages do not consistently treat ownership rights as applying regardless of the owner's group or enemy status.