We learned in the last Mishnah that a Shomer (watchman) pays kefel (double payment) when he is considered to be a thief. Here we’ll go more into that halacha (Jewish law) about kefel in terms of a thief. This Mishnah has nothing to do with a false swear. The Mishnah says: If a person says to another person in the marketplace, “Where’s the ox that you stole? Where’s my ox that you stole?” but the person he’s accusing says, “I didn’t steal anything,” and witnesses show up and say that he did steal, then we say that if the witnesses also testify that he slaughtered or sold it after he stole it, he pays the four or five-time payment that applies to a sheep or an ox. Even though in this case it’s a five-time payment because it’s an ox, the halachic term arba'a v'hamisha (four or five-time payment) is used.
If the thief never admitted anything, but then saw that witnesses were approaching and was nervous that they were going to say his crime and what he did, and then he would have to pay the kefel, he would have to pay the double payment. So he jumped and admitted everything. He admitted that he stole the ox, but he did not admit to slaughtering or selling it. So when the witnesses came and gave the rest of the information, they testified that he had also either slaughtered or sold it. So we say that he would only have to pay the principal. He would not have to pay the double payment for stealing it. We say that the double payment is a knas. It’s a penalty, and it only applies to a person who does not admit it. So here, he admitted to the penalty; he admitted to what he did, his crime, and therefore he would not have to pay the penalty. Also, the arba'a v'hamisha would not apply because a person who admits what he did and is not obligated in the kefel, in the double payment, is also exempt automatically from the five-fold payment as well.