Bible Dictionary
CHALLENGE
In Exodus 22:9, challenge means to claim or identify property, rather than to provoke someone to a contest. The passage concerns disputed stolen goods.
Definition
In Exodus 22:9, challenge means to claim or identify disputed property. It does not carry the modern sense of provoking someone to a contest.
Biblical Usage
The passage concerns stolen personal property and a person who says, “This is it,” identifying the item in dispute.
Historical Background
The Revised Version translates the underlying Hebrew more clearly as “whereof one saith, This is it.” The Hebrew verb ordinarily means “say.”
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>chal'-enj: Only in Ex 22:9, where the King James Version has taken Hebrew 'amar, "say," in the sense of "claim." the Revised Version (British and American) "whereof one saith, This is it," points more definitely to the idea of identification of the stolen personal property.</p>