"Thou shalt not steal" () is one of the Ten Commandments of the Jewish Torah (known to Christians as the first five books of the Old Testament), which are widely understood as moral imperatives by legal scholars, Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars, and Post-Reformation scholars.
"Steal" in this commandment has traditionally been interpreted by Jewish commentaries to refer to the stealing of an actual human being, that is, to kidnap. With this understanding, a contextual translation of the commandment in Jewish tradition would more accurately be rendered as "Thou shalt not kidnap". Kidnapping would then constitute a capital offence and thus merit its inclusion among the Ten Commandments.
Nevertheless, this commandment has come to be interpreted, especially in non-Jewish traditions, as the unauthorized taking of private property (stealing or theft), which is a wrongful action already prohibited elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible that does not ordinarily incur the death penalty.
Ancient usage
Significant voices of academic theologians (such as German Old Testament scholar A. Alt: Das Verbot des Diebstahls im Dekalog (1953)) suggest that commandment "you shall not steal" was originally intended against stealing people—against abductions and slavery, in agreement with the Talmudic interpretation of the statement as "you shall not kidnap" (Sanhedrin 86a).
The Hebrew word translated 'steal' is gneva The Hebrew Bible contains a number of prohibitions of stealing and descriptions of negative consequences for this sin. The Genesis narrative describes Rachel as having stolen household goods from her father Laban when she fled from Laban's household with her husband Jacob and their children. Laban hotly pursued Jacob to recover his goods, and intended to do him harm, but Rachel hid the stolen items and avoided detection. Exodus 21:16 and Deuteronomy 24:7 apply the same Hebrew word to kidnapping (stealing a man) and demands the death penalty for such a sin.
The Hebrew word translated 'steal' is more commonly applied to material possessions. Restitution may be demanded, but there is no judicial penalty of death. However, a thief may be killed if caught in the act of breaking in at night under circumstances where the occupants may reasonably be in fear of greater harm. The ancient Hebrew understanding honored private property rights and demanded restitution even in cases that might have been accidental, such as livestock grazing in another man's field or vineyard (Exodus 22:1-9 (ESV)).
In the book of Leviticus, the prohibitions of robbing and stealing are repeated in the context of loving one's neighbor as oneself and the prohibition is expanded to include dealing falsely or fraudulently in matters of trade and negotiations. Wages owed to a hired worker are not to be withheld. Neighbors must not oppress or rob each other. Neighbors are to deal frankly with each other, protect the lives of each other, refrain from vengeance and grudges, and stand up for righteousness and justice in matters that go to court.
The law obliged the thief to pay seven times (if the thief steals because he is hungry). If the thief wasn't able to pay compensation for his theft by selling his things, he was sold as a slave.
If the thief confessed his sin, he was allowed to return the object, adding a fifth of its price and he brought to the priest as his compensation to the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering; and the priest made atonement for him before the Lord, and he was forgiven.
In Proverbs, the otherwise unknown Agur requests the Lord not make him poor or rich fearing poverty or greed might tempt him to theft. In Proverbs 9:16, the idea that stolen things are sweet and the bread (food) eaten in secret is pleasant is rebuked as foolish. Even to be partner to a thief is described as to hate one's own life – to know of wrong doing but be unable to testify to it. Likewise in Romans, rulers such as those of Sodom and Gomorrah who lust after bribes are described as detestable, corrupting their entire state.
The book of Proverbs contrasts the response of a victim to a thief who steals to satisfy his hunger with the response of a jealous husband to adultery. The thief is not despised by his victim, even though the thief must make restitution even if it costs him all the goods of his house. In contrast, the jealous husband will accept no compensation and will repay the adulterer with wounds and dishonor, not sparing when his fury takes revenge. The book of Zechariah describes God as cursing the home of the thief and the home of those who swear falsely and Jeremiah describes thieves as being shamed when they are caught.