“If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him. But if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him…” (Exodus 22:2-3) When reading these Bible verses in the English translation, it is not completely clear what scenario the Bible is actually describing. The English translation is missing one very IMPORTANT word which clarifies the entire situation and this is the Hebrew word – מחתרת “Mach’teret.” The word “Mach’teret” means ‘hidden, ‘secretly’ or ‘clandestinely.’ In Modern Hebrew it means ‘underground’ (as in underground organization). Now the concept is clear and explains the next verse. ‘But if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him’ – meaning that when a thief is breaking into a house in the middle of the night (secretly) and is consequently hit by the owner of the house it is considered self- defense (‘no bloodguilt’) because he does not know the thief’s intentions. But if the thief comes during the light of mid-day and openly (‘the sun has risen on him’) when expects no one to be home, meaning it is clear he is a thief and not a murderer (for example) then ‘there shall be bloodguilt for him’ if the homeowner ‘struck him so that he dies’.
