If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.

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.

If the thief be not known, the master of the house shall be brought to the gods, and shall swear that he did not lay his hand upon his neighbour's goods,

if the thief be not found, the master of the house shall be brought before the judges, to see if he has not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.

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 neighbour's goods.

If the thief shall not be found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges, to see whether he hath put his hand to his neighbor's goods.

'If the thief is not found, then the master of the house hath been brought near unto God, whether he hath not put forth his hand against the work of his neighbour;

If they do not get the thief, let the master of the house come before the judges and take an oath that he has not put his hand on his neighbour's goods.

If the thief is unknown, the lord of the house will be brought before the heavens to swear that he did not lay his hand on the goods of his neighbor,

Si non inventus fuerit fur, tunc applicabitur dominus domus ad judices, annon miserit manum suam in substantiam proximi sui.

It would appear that if the master of the house would clear himself of imputation, the loss of the pledged article fell upon its owner.

Unto the judges - See Clarke's note on Exodus 21:6.

If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, [to see] whether he have (d) put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.
(d) That is, whether he has stolen.

If the thief be not found,.... And so no account can be given of the goods deposited, what is become of them, and it becomes a doubtful case whether they have been stolen or embezzled, and there is suspicion of the latter:
then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges: here called Elohim, gods, because they were God's vicegerents, and represented him, and acted under his power and authority; and who at this present were Moses, and those that judged the people under him, and afterwards the seventy elders, and all such who in succeeding times were judges in Israel, and bore the office of civil magistrates; before these the master of the house, or the person who had any goods committed to his care, and they were lost, was to be brought and put to his oath, and upon it examined, in order to find out what was become of the goods committed to him: to see whether he has put his hand to his neighbour's goods: took them to himself, made use of them, or disposed of them to his own advantage, and which was no other than a kind of theft.