Proverbs 6:30-35 reads: “People do not despise a thief just because he commits thievery to fill his soul when he is hungry.

Here a thief and an adulterer are compared. Men may have some feeling of compassion toward a thief who steals because he is hungry. Some versions, however, read: “Do not men despise a thief?”

Whether he is despised or not, when caught, the thief is punished. Under the Mosaic law the thief was to pay double, fourfold or fivefold, according to the items stolen and the circumstances. (Ex. 22:1, 4, 7) Here in Proverbs 6 ‘sevenfold’ likely means a complete payment, according to what the judges would assess, “seven” often being used to denote completeness. Or it may mean that, in order to appease the injured party and establish peace with him, it could cost the thief all he owned.