Translations:Are you allowed to use deadly force in defense of (mere) property?/10/en

To kill a thief digging through the mud-brick wall (Ezek. 12:5) is justifiable homicide, if done after dark. He may be an armed murderer, for all the householder knows. His death may even have been accidental, in the blundering fight in the darkness. But in the daylight, the householder has no excuse for killing: besides, he can identify the man. It is typical of Israel’s merciful law that even a thief has his rights.