Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 22:7-13

"If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man`s house; if the thief be found, he shall pay double. If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall come near unto God, [to see] whether he have not put his hand unto his neighbor`s goods. For every matter of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, [or] for any manner of lost thing, whereof one saith, This is it, the cause of both parties shall come before God; he whom God shall condemn shall pay double unto his neighbor. 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." — Exodus 22:7-13 (ASV)

Property deposited with another person for safekeeping might be so easily embezzled by the trustee, or lost through his negligence, that special laws were needed for its protection.

Conversely, the trustee needed to be safeguarded against incurring loss if the property entrusted to his care suffered damage or disappeared through no fault of his own.

The Mosaic legislation provided for both situations. On the one hand, it required the trustee to exercise proper care and made him answerable for the loss if an item entrusted to him was stolen and the thief was not found.

Embezzlement it punished by requiring the guilty trustee to “pay double.” On the other hand, in doubtful cases, the law allowed the trustee to clear himself by an oath (Exodus 22:10), and in clear cases, to provide proof that the loss had occurred through an unavoidable accident (Exodus 22:12).