Exodus 22:4

If the stolen item should in fact be found ¹  alive in his possession, ²  whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double. ³ 

Ex 21:16; Ex 22:1,7,9; Pr 6:31; Isa 40:2; Jer 16:18; Re 18:6

¹ tn The construction uses a Niphal infinitive absolute and a Niphal imperfect: if it should indeed be found. Gesenius says that in such conditional clauses the infinitive absolute has less emphasis, but instead emphasizes the condition on which some consequence depends (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).

² tn Heb “in his hand.”

³ sn He must pay back one for what he took, and then one for the penalty – his loss as he was inflicting a loss on someone else.