Noah Webster's Dictionary (n.) The act or business of stealing or kidnapping human beings, especially with a view to e/slave them. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia KIDNAPPING (MANSTEALING) kid'-nap-ing The term itself occurs only in the New Testament andrapodistes ="manstealer") in 1 Timothy 1:10. The crime was directly forbidden in the Hebrew law (Exodus 21:16 Deuteronomy 24:7), and was made punishable with death. MANSTEALING man'-stel-ing. See CRIME, under "Kidnapping"; PUNISHMENT.