Reference for Shevuot 8:4

אָמַר לְאֶחָד בַּשּׁוּק הֵיכָן שׁוֹרִי שֶׁגָּנַבְתָּ, וְהוּא אוֹמֵר לֹא גָנַבְתִּי, וְהָעֵדִים מְעִידִים אוֹתוֹ שֶׁגְּנָבוֹ, מְשַׁלֵּם תַּשְׁלוּמֵי כֶפֶל. טָבַח וּמָכַר, מְשַׁלֵּם תַּשְׁלוּמֵי אַרְבָּעָה וַחֲמִשָּׁה. רָאָה עֵדִים שֶׁמְּמַשְׁמְשִׁין וּבָאִין, אָמַר גָּנַבְתִּי אֲבָל לֹא טָבַחְתִּי וְלֹא מָכָרְתִּי, אֵינוֹ מְשַׁלֵּם אֶלָּא קֶרֶן:

If one said to another in the market place: "Where is my ox that you stole?" and he said: "I did not steal it," and the witnesses testify that he (himself) stole it, he pays kefel. [Here, we do not have "I beswear you," for being an actual thief, he is liable to kefel (even) without an oath, it being written (Exodus 22:6): "He (a thief) shall pay double."] If he saw witnesses coming and he said: "I stole it, but I did not slaughter or sell it, he pays only the principal. [We are being apprised here that even though he admits it out of fear of the witnesses, still, the admission avails and exempts him from kefel. And since there is no kefel, he is exempt, too, from (payment for) the slaughtering, which he denied, so that if witnesses come and say that he stole and slaughtered or sold (he does not pay "four and five"), the Torah prescribing "four and five" and not "three and four." For in the absence of kefel there is a reduction of one.]

Explore reference for Shevuot 8:4. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.