Five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep — More for an ox than for a sheep, because the owner, besides all the other profit, lost the daily labour of his ox. If we were not able to make restitution, he must be sold for a slave: the court of judgment was to do it, and it is likely the person robbed received the money. Thus with us in some cases, felons are transported to the Plantations, where only, Englishmen know what slavery is. But let it be observed, the sentence is not slavery, but banishment: nor can any Englishman be sold, unless he first indent himself to the captain that carries him over.
Related Commentaries of Exodus 22:1
Exodus 22:1
1 If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep,a and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.