Exodus 22:10-13

"If a man deliver unto his neighbor an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it: the oath of Jehovah shall be between them both, whether he hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods; and the owner thereof shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. But if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof. If it be torn in pieces, let him bring it for witness; he shall not make good that which was torn."

The importance of the solemn oath of men in God's presence is again stressed here. In the final analysis, there are situations in life where truthful testimony ALONE can reveal the facts, and this is true even today. The requirement that the surety was to make good in the case of a theft presumes that a thief entering the estate of a man would intend stealing from him, not from others.

"If it be torn in pieces ..." Many persons in ancient societies were charged with keeping other people's property, that being the standard for all shepherds, and, as McKeating stated it, "A shepherd was accountable to the sheep-owner for any animal lost, unless he could prove it was lost owing to circumstances beyond his control."[5] This law lay behind the strenuous efforts of shepherds to rescue animals, or portions of them, attacked by wild beasts. The prophet Amos mentioned this: "Thus saith Jehovah, As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or the piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria" (Amos 3:12).

The requirement that the one with whom deposits were left had to make restitution actually served "as the neighbor's bond."[6]

One of the great principles in view in this chapter is that one's intentions enter critically into the question of his guilt or innocence.

"In certain cases proof of evil intent cannot be satisfactorily obtained. Because the intention of committing a crime is involved, certain basic rules for establishing the fact of evil intent are required (instances of where this was hard to determine are in Exodus 22:8,9, and Exodus 22:11). In such cases, the suspect is given the benefit of the doubt, but is made to invoke upon himself a curse.[7]

Right here then is the embryo of that cornerstone of American justice, that one is held as "innocent until proved guilty." There is absolutely nothing in any of these God-given pronouncements which is narrow, discriminatory, or inappropriate. The principles of justice in all ages find their tap-roots right here.