9102. 'He shall repay five oxen for the ox' means the corresponding punishment, carried to a great degree. This is clear from the meaning of 'five' as something, dealt with in 4638, 5291, and also much or a great amount, 5708, 5956; and from the meaning of 'repaying' as amendment, 9087, and as restoration, 9097. The reason why it also means punishment is that when good that has been alienated has to receive amendment, or has to be restored, a person undergoes hard experiences. For either he is abandoned to his evil, thus also to the punishment accompanying evil since evil carries punishment with it, 8214, or he is brought into temptations by means of which evil is tamed and removed, which is the punishment meant here by 'repaying'. It is the corresponding punishment because the evil incurred as punishment and the evil of the wrong-doing correspond, 1857, 6559, 8214.