EXOD616 A thief is obligated to pay back four times the value of a calf stolen but five times the value of a large animal such as an ox. When the Talmud Bava Kamma 79b asks why the different amounts, Rabbi Yochanan says that Judaism even cares about the dignity of the thief. Since he had to carry the calf on his shoulders (an undignified act) he pays only four times the value, but as the ox could walk under its own power, the thief pays five times the amount.