of the subject, and the clause composed of the subject and predicate is the relative clause.

Thus, the secure place for property is the place in which it is customarily kept.

His statement, “custom,” proves that the determining factor regarding a secure place is customary practice, not the Sacred Law, because the Lawgiver has stated it in unrestricted terms without defining it. Whenever the Lawgiver mentions something without defining it, its meaning is referred back to customary practice, provided that it has no meaning specifically defined by the Sacred Law.

“It varies according to the kinds of property, the regions, the ruler’s justice or tyranny, and his strength or weakness. Thus, the secure place for money, jewellery, and cloth is in houses, shops, and inhabited buildings, behind doors and sturdy locks; while the secure place for vegetables, pots of broad beans, and the like is behind lattice screens, if there is a guard in the marketplace. …”

His statement, “It varies according to the kinds of property, the regions, the ruler’s justice or tyranny, and his strength or weakness”: secure places for property are not all the same. If a man were to come to a sheep pen and steal a sheep from it, he would have stolen it from its secure place. Were the thief to say, “I did not steal it from a secure place, because property is kept in iron safes, such as gold,” we would reply: The secure place is that in which property is customarily kept, and it is not customary for us to put sheep in safes!

It also varies according to the regions. Should we say that large cities require stronger security than villages, or that small villages require stronger security? At times, large cities require stronger security, especially when they contain different groups of newcomers. At other times, smaller places require stronger security, because their inhabitants are few and thieves raid them more frequently.

In any case, these regions are governed by what people customarily recognize. Such villages may be more secure because of their small populations and because their governors are able to keep them under control; or the reverse may be the case.