John Calvin Commentary Exodus 22:10

"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:" — Exodus 22:10 (ASV)

If a man deliver unto his neighbor an ass. Since in the passage from which I have taken these four verses, mention is made of a deposit, and Moses is professedly providing against frauds, robberies, and thefts, I have thought it well to place them under this heading. It indeed has some relation to the Third Commandment because it shows the lawful use of an oath: namely, that in matters of concealment men should have recourse to the witness of God, and that, by the intervention of His sacred name, an end should be put to their strife.

But while the authority attributed to oaths depends on the reverence due to God, at the same time faith and piety are enforced in them,¹⁴⁰ so that all things should correspond. I have, however, considered the main point: that is, how controversies about concealed things should be brought to an end for the advancement of peace and equity.

He would therefore have the depository acquitted if he swears that the animal entrusted to him is lost (either by death or violence,¹⁴¹) even if he produces no witness of the matter. This is because it would be unjust for him to bear the blame unless fraud or some more obvious offense has been committed by him.

At the conclusion, then, it is said, the owner of it shall accept the oath, which is equivalent to saying that he shall be compelled to acquiesce and shall give no more trouble about it. The expression, an oath of the Lord shall be between them both, is a remarkable one, by which the obligation and sanctity of an oath are enforced, while Moses reminds us that God is the author of this sacred mode of testimony and presides over it as its judge and avenger.

Moses now lays down the law regarding a borrowed animal, if it dies, or is mutilated, or injured. There is, however, a wide distinction between a thing borrowed and a thing deposited, for he who lends confers a favor; and therefore, when a man borrows a thing, he binds himself to restore it in safety, as far as it is in his power. A distinction, however, is made: if the owner himself of the animal is an eyewitness to the death or fracture, he shall bear the loss; but if the animal should die or be injured in his absence, its value is awarded to him. His presence is equivalent to this: if he has seen with his own eyes that the injury did not occur through the fault of the one to whom he lent it, then the owner will cause him no trouble about it. For instance, if you have lent me a horse and take the journey with me, even if anything unfortunate should happen—assuming you are assured that it did not occur through my recklessness, negligence, or bad management—I am free and exempt from loss.

What is here laid down concerning a borrowed animal must also be applied to all other borrowed things.

¹⁴⁰ For these latter words, which I hardly understand, the following are substituted in Fr., “Cela touche quant et quant a son service et religion.”., “Cela touche quant et quant a son service et religion.”

¹⁴¹ Added from Fr..