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Deuteronomy 22

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Responsibility for Lost Property 1–4

1
Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely bring them again unto thy brother. ​
2
And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it home to thy house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him.
3
And so shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his garment; and so shalt thou do with every lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found: thou mayest not hide thyself.
4
Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again. ​

Laws of Distinction and Purity 5–12

5
A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God. ​
6
If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: ​
7
thou shalt surely let the dam go, but the young thou mayest take unto thyself; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days. ​
8
When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence. ​
9
Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole fruit be forfeited, the seed which thou hast sown, and the increase of the vineyard. ​
10
Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. ​
11
Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together. ​
12
Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four borders of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself. ​

Laws Governing Sexual Immorality and Marriage 13–30

13
If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, ​
14
and lay shameful things to her charge, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came nigh to her, I found not in her the tokens of virginity;
15
then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate; ​
16
and the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;
17
and, lo, he hath laid shameful things to her charge, saying, I found not in thy daughter the tokens of virginity; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city.
18
And the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him;
19
and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. ​
20
But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the damsel;
21
then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee. ​
22
If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away the evil from Israel. ​
23
If there be a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
24
then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them to death with stones; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor’s wife: so thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee. ​
25
But if the man find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die: ​
26
but unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter;
27
for he found her in the field, the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
28
If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
29
then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; he may not put her away all his days. ​
30
A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Deuteronomy 22

Verse 1

hide thyself — Alam, to veil from sight, is repeated in vv.3–4: the man who sees and looks away is the one addressed. Ex 23:4 gives the law for an enemy's ox or ass going astray; here the same duty is owed to 'thy brother', and the animal is kept at home until he 'seek after it' (v.2). 'Bring them again' is shub, to turn back.

Verse 4

lift them up again — Qum, to raise. The duty stands for any ass or ox 'fall down by the way', as Ex 23:5 requires help even for the ass of 'him that hateth thee'. Christ appeals to the same care when he asks, 'Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?' (Luke 14:5).

Verse 5

that which pertaineth unto a man — The Hebrew is keli geber, a man's article or gear, set against a woman's simlah, her garment. Toebah, 'abomination', is the word used of the practices in 18:12 and of unrighteous dealing in 25:16; here it marks the exchange of clothing as something the LORD hates.

Verse 6

a bird's nest — 'Dam' is em, 'mother', the word used for the damsel's mother in v.15. The mother is not to be taken together with the young. A like rule covers larger animals: 'ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day' (Lev 22:28); and 'A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast' (Prov 12:10).

Verse 7

let the dam go — 'Let go' is shalach, to send away. 'It may be well with thee' (yatab) and 'prolong thy days' (arak) are the promises attached to the fifth commandment, 'Honour thy father and thy mother' (Deut 5:16; Eph 6:2–3). The same two promises are given here to a rule about a nesting bird.

Verse 8

a battlement for thy roof — Ma'aqeh, a parapet, found only here. The roof was lived on: David 'walked upon the roof of the king's house' (2 Sam 11:2), and Peter 'went up upon the housetop to pray' (Acts 10:9). 'Bring not blood upon thine house' is the bloodguilt of 19:10, which here reaches into the building of a house.

Verse 9

divers seeds — Kil'ayim, 'two kinds', is the word of Lev 19:19: cattle not to breed 'with a diverse kind', a field not sown 'with mingled seed', and a garment not 'mingled of linen and woollen'. The verb behind 'be defiled' is qadash, which elsewhere means to be holy, set apart: the mixed crop is taken out of the owner's use.

Verse 10

an ox and an ass together — The two animals stand differently under the law: the firstling of a cow 'thou shalt not redeem; they are holy' (Num 18:17), while 'every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb' (Ex 13:13). A plough team of the two would pair them. Paul uses the figure of the yoke: 'Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers' (2 Cor 6:14).

Verse 11

woollen and linen together — Shaatnez is found only here and in Lev 19:19, where the same prohibition follows the rules against mixed cattle and mixed seed. With vv.9–10 it makes a set of three: the field, the team and the clothing are each kept to one kind.

Verse 12

fringes upon the four quarters — Gedil, a twisted cord or tassel, set on the four 'quarters' (kanaph, edges) of the cloak. Num 15:38–40 gives the command and its purpose: 'that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them'. Christ speaks of those who 'enlarge the borders of their garments' (Matt 23:5).

Verse 13

go in unto her, and hate her — The first of a run of cases (vv.13–21) in which a husband charges his bride with unchastity. 'Hate' is sane, as in v.16, 'he hateth her', and in Deut 24:3. The charge itself comes in v.14: he 'bring up an evil name upon her', saying, 'I found her not a maid'.

Verse 15

the elders of the city in the gate — The parents bring the 'tokens' of their daughter's virginity (bethulim) to the elders sitting in the gate, where such matters were judged; Boaz 'took ten men of the elders of the city' there to settle a claim (Ruth 4:1–2). Father and mother act together, and the father speaks for them (v.16).

Verse 19

an hundred shekels of silver — The slanderer pays 'an hundred shekels', double the 'fifty shekels' of v.29, to the father, 'because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel'. He loses the right of divorce: 'she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days' (shalach), the same restriction as in v.29.

Verse 21

wrought folly in Israel — Nebalah, a disgraceful outrage: Shechem 'wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter' (Gen 34:7), and Achan 'wrought folly in Israel' (Josh 7:15). The sentence is carried out at her father's door by 'the men of her city', and ends with the formula 'so shalt thou put evil away from among you'.

Verse 22

they shall both of them die — The law of Lev 20:10: 'the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death'. The scribes cited it when they brought a woman 'taken in adultery' to Christ (John 8:4–5), who answered, 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her' (John 8:7). 'Adulterers God will judge' (Heb 13:4).

Verse 24

because she cried not, being in the city — The betrothed woman (arash) is treated as a wife: Joseph, while she was only 'espoused', is called 'her husband' (Matt 1:18–19). The case of v.23 is set in the city, where her cry could be heard. 'Humbled' is anah, as in v.29, and both are brought out 'unto the gate of that city'.

Verse 25

the man force her — The same case in the field, where 'the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her' (v.27). Chazaq is to seize with strength, the verb of 2 Sam 13:14, 'being stronger than she'. The woman is cleared: 'there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death' (v.26), and 'the man only' dies.

Verse 29

fifty shekels of silver — The offender pays the father 'fifty shekels', half the penalty of v.19, and marries her; Ex 22:16–17 allows the father to refuse and take 'money according to the dowry of virgins'. 'Humbled' is anah, as in v.24. 'He may not put her away all his days' repeats the restraint laid on the slanderer in v.19.

Verse 30

his father's skirt — Kanaph is the corner of a garment, spread over a woman in marriage: Ruth asked Boaz to 'spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid' (Ruth 3:9), and the LORD says, 'I spread my skirt over thee' (Ezek 16:8). To 'discover' it (galah) is to lay bare what is the father's; see Deut 27:20, Lev 18:8 and 1 Cor 5:1.