The Mekhilta addresses whether the four-and-five payment applies to consecrated animals — those dedicated to the Temple. If someone steals a consecrated animal and slaughters it outside the Temple courtyard, does he pay four or five times its value?
Consecrated animals were initially included in the general class of stolen livestock. The logic seems straightforward: if you steal a consecrated animal and slaughter it outside the Temple, you should face the same penalty as any other livestock thief.
But the Torah created an exception. (Leviticus 17:2) states: "This is the thing that the Lord has commanded" regarding one who slaughters a consecrated animal outside the proper area. The penalty for that specific act is kareth — spiritual excision, being "cut off" from the people. Since the Torah assigned kareth as the penalty for slaughtering consecrated animals outside, the four-and-five financial payment does not apply.
The consecrated animals have been "singled out for kareth and not for payment." The spiritual penalty replaces the financial one. You cannot be subject to both kareth and the four-and-five multiplier for the same act. The more severe punishment — cutting off the soul — preempts the financial penalty.
This ruling demonstrates a general principle in Jewish criminal law: when a single act triggers both a spiritual punishment and a financial one, the spiritual punishment takes precedence and the financial obligation is discharged.