ספורנו — אם אין לו ונמכר בגנבתו

Q — The mishpat "אם אין לו ונמכר בגנבתו" — a thief unable to pay is sold into slavery — looks like a compensation mechanism: the victim gets paid from the proceeds. Is there a deeper purpose?

A — For Sforno, the law's primary purpose is *not* compensation but a תקנה חברתית — a measure for the social order as a whole. Without it, "היו רוב דלת העם גנבים, שאם יפסידו הגנבה או יאכלוה אין אומר השב, מבלי אין בידם לשלם, ותמלא הארץ חמס." Insolvency would be a get-out-of-jail card; theft would become a rational strategy for the poor. Selling-into-slavery ensures that lack of economic ability does *not* exempt from consequence — preserving deterrence. The chiddush widens the lens: Torah law isn't only about justice for the individual victim, it's about the תיקון of the social order. Mishpatim is not merely civil code; it's the architecture by which a society holds together.