Exodus 22:13

אִם־טָרֹף יִטָּרֵף יְבִאֵהוּ עֵד הַטְּרֵפָה לֹא יְשַׁלֵּֽם׃ פ

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

אִם־טָרֹ֥ף יִטָּרֵ֖ף יְבִאֵ֣הוּ עֵ֑ד הַטְּרֵפָ֖ה לֹ֥א יְשַׁלֵּֽם׃ פ

Greek (Septuagint)

ἐὰν δὲ θηριάλωτον γένηται, ἄξει αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν θήραν, καὶ οὐκ ἀποτίσει.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

si comestum a bestia, deferat ad eum quod occisum est, et non restituet.

Spanish

Si un animal salvaje despedazó al animal que cuidaba, deberá traer los restos como prueba y no tendrá que pagar nada.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y si le hubiere sido arrebatado por fiera, traerle ha testimonio, y no pagará lo arrebatado.

English

If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass.

✦ What the text says

Summary

The verse addresses the case of an entrusted animal killed by a wild beast: if the animal was indeed torn apart, the keeper must bring the remains as evidence, and in that case he is not liable to pay restitution for the torn carcass.

Key words

ta.Rof ("to tear", H2963) — infinitive absolute of the same root as the following verb; combined with the finite verb it emphasizes the certainty or verified fact of the tearing ("if it was indeed torn").
yi.ta.Ref ("it will be torn in pieces", H2963) — niphal (passive) imperfect; the animal is the grammatical subject undergoing the action, without naming the agent (the wild beast) explicitly in the Hebrew clause.
ye.vi.'E.hu ("he will bring it", H0935P) — hiphil (causative) imperfect with third-person pronominal suffix hu ("it"); the subject (the keeper) causes the remains to be brought as evidence.
'Ed ("evidence", H5707) — masculine singular noun in construct form, denoting a witness or testimony, here referring to the physical remains that serve as proof.
ye.sha.Lem ("he will make restitution", H7999A) — piel (intensive) imperfect, negated by lo' ("not", H3808); expresses the legal outcome — full payment is not required.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the conditional particle 'im ("if", H0518A) followed by the construction ta.Rof yi.ta.Ref — an infinitive absolute paired with a finite verb from the same root (H2963). This doubling is a common Biblical Hebrew device that intensifies or confirms the verbal action: it does not merely say "if it is torn" but stresses the verified, undeniable fact of the tearing. The niphal form yi.ta.Ref keeps the animal as subject without stating the predator overtly, focusing grammatically on the state of the animal rather than the agent responsible.

The clause ye.vi.'E.hu 'Ed uses a hiphil imperfect ("he will bring it") governing the noun 'Ed ("evidence", H5707) — literally, the keeper "brings it evidence," meaning he brings the remains to serve as proof of the event. The final clause negates the piel imperfect ye.sha.Lem ("he will make restitution") with lo', establishing that once the tearing is evidenced, the obligation to pay is removed. The piel stem here carries the intensive/factitive sense of "paying in full" or "completing restitution," and its negation marks the legal exemption granted upon presentation of the torn carcass as evidence.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.