Topic
Thief
7 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Deuteronomy 24:7ISBE
¶ If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
- Matthew 24:43ISBE
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
- Matthew 27:38ISBE
Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
- Matthew 27:44ISBE
The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
- Mark 15:27ISBE
And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
- Luke 23:32ISBE
And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
- Luke 23:39ISBE
¶ And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 7 references
thef: In the Old Testament the uniform translation (17 times) of gannabh, from ganabh, "steal," but gannabh is rather broader than the English "thief," and may even include a kidnapper (De 24:7). In Apocrypha and the New Testament, the King James Version uses "thief" indifferently for kleptes, and lestes, but the Revised Version (British and American) always renders the latter word by "robber" (a great improvement), See CRIMES. The figurative use of thief" as one coming without warning" (Mt 24:43, etc.) needs no explanation.
The penitent thief ("robber," the Revised Version (British and American) Mr 15:27; Mt 27:38,44; "malefactor," Lu 23:32,39) was one of the two criminals crucified with Christ. According to Mark and Matthew, both of these joined in the crowd's mockery, but Luke tells that one of them reproached his fellow for the insults, acknowledged his own guilt, and begged Christ to remember him at the coming of the Kingdom. And Christ replied by promising more than was asked--immediate admission into Paradise. It should be noted that unusual moral courage was needed for the thief to make his request at such a time and under such circumstances, and that his case has little in common with certain sentimental "death-bed repentances."
To explain the repentance and the acknowledgment of Christ as Messiah, some previous acquaintance of the thief with Christ must be supposed, but all guesses as to time and place are of course useless. Later tradition abundantly filled the blanks and gave the penitent thief the name Titus or Dysmas.
Burton Scott Easton
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.