Worthy.Bible » Parallel » Deuteronomy » Chapter 22 » Verse 1-12

Deuteronomy 22:1-12 King James Version (KJV)

1 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case 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 unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.

3 In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.

4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

6 If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be 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 But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; 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 thine house, if any man fall from thence.

9 Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.

10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.

12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.


Deuteronomy 22:1-12 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 Thou shalt not see H7200 thy brother's H251 ox H7794 or his sheep H7716 go astray, H5080 and hide H5956 thyself from them: thou shalt in any case H7725 bring them again H7725 unto thy brother. H251

2 And if thy brother H251 be not nigh H7138 unto thee, or if thou know H3045 him not, then thou shalt bring H622 it unto H8432 thine own house, H1004 and it shall be with thee until thy brother H251 seek H1875 after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. H7725

3 In like manner H3651 shalt thou do H6213 with his ass; H2543 and so shalt thou do H6213 with his raiment; H8071 and with all lost thing H9 of thy brother's, H251 which he hath lost, H6 and thou hast found, H4672 shalt thou do H6213 likewise: thou mayest H3201 not hide H5956 thyself.

4 Thou shalt not see H7200 thy brother's H251 ass H2543 or his ox H7794 fall down H5307 by the way, H1870 and hide H5956 thyself from them: thou shalt surely H6965 help him to lift them up again. H6965

5 The woman H802 shall not wear that which pertaineth H3627 unto a man, H1397 neither shall a man H1397 put H3847 on a woman's H802 garment: H8071 for all that do H6213 so H428 are abomination H8441 unto the LORD H3068 thy God. H430

6 If a bird's H6833 nest H7064 chance H7122 to be before H6440 thee in the way H1870 in any tree, H6086 or on the ground, H776 whether they be young ones, H667 or eggs, H1000 and the dam H517 sitting H7257 upon the young, H667 or upon the eggs, H1000 thou shalt not take H3947 the dam H517 with the young: H1121

7 But thou shalt in any wise H7971 let the dam H517 go, H7971 and take H3947 the young H1121 to thee; that it may be well H3190 with thee, and that thou mayest prolong H748 thy days. H3117

8 When thou buildest H1129 a new H2319 house, H1004 then thou shalt make H6213 a battlement H4624 for thy roof, H1406 that thou bring H7760 not blood H1818 upon thine house, H1004 if any man H5307 fall H5307 from thence.

9 Thou shalt not sow H2232 thy vineyard H3754 with divers seeds: H3610 lest the fruit H4395 of thy seed H2233 which thou hast sown, H2232 and the fruit H8393 of thy vineyard, H3754 be defiled. H6942

10 Thou shalt not plow H2790 with an ox H7794 and an ass H2543 together. H3162

11 Thou shalt not wear H3847 a garment of divers sorts, H8162 as of woollen H6785 and linen H6593 together. H3162

12 Thou shalt make H6213 thee fringes H1434 upon the four H702 quarters H3671 of thy vesture, H3682 wherewith thou coverest H3680 thyself.


Deuteronomy 22:1-12 American Standard (ASV)

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.

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.


Deuteronomy 22:1-12 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 `Thou dost not see the ox of thy brother or his sheep driven away, and hast hidden thyself from them, thou dost certainly turn them back to thy brother;

2 and if thy brother `is' not near unto thee, and thou hast not known him, then thou hast removed it unto the midst of thy house, and it hath been with thee till thy brother seek it, and thou hast given it back to him;

3 and so thou dost to his ass, and so thou dost to his garment, and so thou dost to any lost thing of thy brother's, which is lost by him, and thou hast found it; thou art not able to hide thyself.

4 `Thou dost not see the ass of thy brother, or his ox, falling in the way, and hast hid thyself from them; thou dost certainly raise `them' up with him.

5 `The habiliments of a man are not on a woman, nor doth a man put on the garment of a woman, for the abomination of Jehovah thy God `is' any one doing these.

6 `When a bird's nest cometh before thee in the way, in any tree, or on the earth, brood or eggs, and the mother sitting on the brood or on the eggs, thou dost not take the mother with the young ones;

7 thou dost certainly send away the mother, and the young ones dost take to thyself, so that it is well with thee, and thou hast prolonged days.

8 `When thou buildest a new house, then thou hast made a parapet to thy roof, and thou dost not put blood on thy house when one falleth from it.

9 `Thou dost not sow thy vineyard `with' divers things, lest the fulness of the seed which thou dost sow, and the increase of the vineyard, be separated.

10 `Thou dost not plow with an ox and with an ass together.

11 `Thou dost not put on a mixed cloth, wool and linen together.

12 `Fringes thou dost make to thee on the four skirts of thy covering with which thou dost cover `thyself'.


Deuteronomy 22:1-12 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them back unto thy brother.

2 And if thy brother be not near unto thee, and thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thy house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it unto him.

3 And so shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his clothing; and so shalt thou do with everything that is lost of thy brother, which he loseth, and thou findest: thou mayest not hide thyself.

4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case [help] him to lift them up.

5 There shall not be a man's apparel on a woman, neither shall a man put on a woman's clothing; for whoever doeth so is an abomination to Jehovah thy God.

6 If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree, or upon the ground, with young or with eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:

7 thou shalt in any case let the dam go, and thou mayest take the young to thee, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

8 When thou buildest a new house, thou shalt make a parapet for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any one should in any wise fall from it.

9 Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with [seed of] two sorts, lest the whole of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the produce of thy vineyard, be forfeited.

10 Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together.

11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of mixed material, [woven] of wool and linen together.

12 Tassels shalt thou make thee on the four corners of thy clothing, wherewith thou coverest thyself.


Deuteronomy 22:1-12 World English Bible (WEB)

1 You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother.

2 If your brother isn't near to you, or if you don't know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him.

3 So shall you do with his donkey; and so shall you do with his garment; and so shall you do with every lost thing of your brother's, which he has lost, and you have found: you may not hide yourself.

4 You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely help him to lift them up again.

5 A woman shall not wear men's clothing, neither shall a man put on women's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God.

6 If a bird's nest chance to be before you in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the hen sitting on the young, or on the eggs, you shall not take the hen with the young:

7 you shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take to yourself; that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days.

8 When you build a new house, then you shall make a battlement for your roof, that you don't bring blood on your house, if any man fall from there.

9 You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole fruit be forfeited, the seed which you have sown, and the increase of the vineyard.

10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

11 You shall not wear a mixed stuff, wool and linen together.

12 You shall make you fringes on the four borders of your cloak, with which you cover yourself.


Deuteronomy 22:1-12 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 If you see your brother's ox or his sheep wandering, do not go by without helping, but take them back to your brother.

2 If their owner is not near, or if you are not certain who he is, then take the beast to your house and keep it till its owner comes in search of it, and then you are to give it back to him.

3 Do the same with his ass or his robe or anything which has gone from your brother's keeping and which you have come across: do not keep it to yourself.

4 If you see your brother's ox or his ass falling down on the road, do not go by without giving him help in lifting it up again.

5 It is not right for a woman to be dressed in man's clothing, or for a man to put on a woman's robe: whoever does such things is disgusting to the Lord your God.

6 If by chance you see a place which a bird has made for itself in a tree or on the earth, with young ones or eggs, and the mother bird seated on the young ones or on the eggs, do not take the mother bird with the young:

7 See that you let the mother bird go, but the young ones you may take; so it will be well for you and your life will be long.

8 If you are building a house, make a railing for the roof, so that the blood of any man falling from it will not come on your house.

9 Do not have your vine-garden planted with two sorts of seed: or all of it may become a loss, the seed you have put in as well as the increase.

10 Do not do your ploughing with an ox and an ass yoked together.

11 Do not have clothing made of two sorts of thread, wool and linen together.

12 On the four edges of your robe, with which your body is covered, put ornaments of twisted threads.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 22

Commentary on Deuteronomy 22 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-12

Going deeper and deeper into the manifold relations of the national life, Moses first of all explains in Deuteronomy 22:1-12 the attitude of an Israelite, on the one hand, towards a neighbour; and, on the other hand, towards the natural classification and arrangement of things, and shows how love should rule in the midst of all these relations. The different relations brought under consideration are selected rather by way of examples, and therefore follow one another without any link of connection, for the purpose of exhibiting the truth in certain concrete cases, and showing how the covenant people were to hold all the arrangement of God sacred, whether in nature or in social life.

Deuteronomy 22:1-3

In Deuteronomy 22:1-4 Moses shows, by a still further expansion of Exodus 23:4-5, how the property of a neighbour was to be regarded and preserved. If any man saw an ox or a sheep of his brother's (fellow-countryman) going astray, he was not to draw back from it, but to bring it back to his brother; and if the owner lived at a distance, or was unknown, he was to take it into his own house or farm, till he came to seek it. He was also to do the same with an ass or any other property that another had lost.

Deuteronomy 22:4

A fallen animal belonging to another he was also to help up (as in Exodus 23:5 : except that in this case, instead of a brother generally, an enemy or hater is mentioned).

Deuteronomy 22:5

As the property of a neighbour was to be sacred in the estimation of an Israelite, so also the divine distinction of the sexes, which was kept sacred in civil life by the clothing peculiar to each sex, was to be not less but even more sacredly observed. “ There shall not be man's things upon a woman, and a man shall not put on a woman's clothes .” כּלי does not signify clothing merely, nor arms only, but includes every kind of domestic and other utensils (as in Exodus 22:6; Leviticus 11:32; Leviticus 13:49). The immediate design of this prohibition was not to prevent licentiousness, or to oppose idolatrous practices (the proofs which Spencer has adduced of the existence of such usages among heathen nations are very far-fetched); but to maintain the sanctity of that distinction of the sexes which was established by the creation of man and woman, and in relation to which Israel was not to sin. Every violation or wiping out of this distinction - such even, for example, as the emancipation of a woman - was unnatural, and therefore an abomination in the sight of God.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7

The affectionate relation of parents to their young, which God had established even in the animal world, was also to be kept just as sacred. If any one found a bird's nest by the road upon a tree, or upon the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting upon them, he was not to take the mother with the young ones, but to let the mother fly, and only take the young. נקרא for נקרה , as in Exodus 5:3. The command is related to the one in Leviticus 22:28 and Exodus 23:19, and is placed upon a par with the commandment relating to parents, by the fact that obedience is urged upon the people by the same promise in both instances (vid., Deuteronomy 5:16; Exodus 20:12).

Deuteronomy 22:8-12

Still less were they to expose human life to danger through carelessness. “ If thou build a new house, make a rim ( maakeh ) - i.e., a balustrade - to thy roof, that thou bring not blood-guiltiness upon thy house, if any one fall from it .” The roofs of the Israelitish houses were flat, as they mostly are in the East, so that the inhabitants often lived upon them (Joshua 2:6; 2 Samuel 11:2; Matthew 10:27). - In Deuteronomy 22:9-11, there follow several prohibitions against mixing together the things which are separated in God's creation, consisting partly of a verbal repetition of Leviticus 19:19 (see the explanation of this passage). - To this there is appended in Deuteronomy 22:12 the law concerning the tassels upon the hem of the upper garment (Numbers 15:37.), which were to remind the Israelites of their calling, to walk before the Lord in faithful fulfilment of the commandments of God (see the commentary upon this passage).


Verse 13-14

Laws of Chastity and Marriage. - Higher and still holier than the order of nature stands the moral order of marriage, upon which the well-being not only of domestic life, but also of the civil commonwealth of nations, depends. Marriage must be founded upon fidelity and chastity on the part of those who are married. To foster this, and secure it against outbreaks of malice and evil lust, was the design and object of the laws which follow. The first (Deuteronomy 22:13-21) relates to the chastity of a woman on entering into the married state, which might be called in question by her husband, either from malice or with justice. The former case is that which Moses treats of first of all. If a man took a wife, and came to her, and hated her, i.e., turned against her after gratifying his carnal desires (like Amnon, for example, 2 Samuel 13:15), and in order to get rid of her again, attributed “deeds or things of words” to her, i.e., things which give occasion for words or talk, and so brought an evil name upon her, saying, that on coming to her he did not find virginity in her. בּתוּלים , virginity, here the signs of it, viz., according to Deuteronomy 22:17, the marks of a first intercourse upon the bed-clothes or dress.


Verses 15-17

In such a case the parents of the young woman ( הנּער for הנּערה , as in Genesis 24:14, Genesis 24:28, according to the earliest usage of the books of Moses, a virgin, then also a young woman, e.g., Ruth 2:6; Ruth 4:12) were to bring the matter before the elders of the town into the gate (the judicial forum; see Deuteronomy 21:19), and establish the chastity and innocence of their daughter by spreading the bed-clothes before them. It was not necessary to this end that the parents should have taken possession of the spotted bed-clothes directly after the marriage night, as in customarily done by the Bedouins and the lower classes of the Moslem in Egypt and Syria (cf. Niebuhr, Beschr. v. Arab. pp. 35ff.; Arvieux, merkw. Nachr. iii. p. 258; Burckhardt, Beduinen, p. 214, etc.). It was sufficient that the cloth should be kept, in case such a proof might be required.


Verse 18-19

The elders, as the magistrates of the place, were then to send for the man who had so calumniated his young wife, and to chastise him ( יסּר , as in Deuteronomy 21:18, used to denote bodily chastisement, thought the limitation of the number of strokes to forty save one, may have been a later institution of the schools); and in addition to this they were to impose a fine upon him of 100 shekels of silver, which he was to pay to the father of the young wife for his malicious calumniation of an Israelitish maiden, - twice as much as the seducer of a virgin was to pay to her father for the reproach brought upon him by the humiliation of his daughter (Deuteronomy 22:29); and lastly, they were to deprive the man of the right of divorce from his wife.


Verse 20-21

In the other case, however, if the man's words were true, and the girl had not been found to be a virgin, the elders were to bring her out before the door of her father's house, and the men of the town were to stone her to death, because she had committed a folly in Israel (cf. Genesis 34:7), to commit fornication in her father's house. The punishment of death was to be inflicted upon her, not so much because she had committed fornication, as because notwithstanding this she had allowed a man to marry her as a spotless virgin, and possibly even after her betrothal had gone with another man (cf. Deuteronomy 22:23, Deuteronomy 22:24). There is no ground for thinking of unnatural wantonness, as Knobel does.


Verse 22

If any one lay with a married woman, they were both of them to be put to death as adulterers (cf. Leviticus 20:10).


Verses 23-29

In connection with the seduction of a virgin ( נער , puella , a marriageable girl; בּתוּלה , virgo immaculata , a virgin), two, or really three, cases are distinguished; viz., (1) whether she was betrothed (Deuteronomy 22:23-27), or not betrothed (Deuteronomy 22:28, Deuteronomy 22:29); (2) if she were betrothed, whether it was ( a ) in the town (Deuteronomy 22:23, Deuteronomy 22:24) or ( b ) in the open field (Deuteronomy 22:25-27) that she had been violated by a man.

Deuteronomy 22:23-24

If a betrothed virgin had allowed a man to have intercourse with her (i.e., one who was not her bridegroom), they were both of them, the man and the girl, to be led out to the gate of the town, and stoned that they might die: the girl, because she had not cried in the city, i.e., had not called for help, and consequently was to be regarded as consenting to the deed; the man, because he had humbled his neighbour's wife. The betrothed woman was placed in this respect upon a par with a married woman, and in fact is expressly called a wife in Deuteronomy 22:24. Betrothal was the first step towards marriage, even if it was not a solemn act attested by witnesses. Written agreements of marriage were not introduced till a later period (Tobit 7:14; Tr. Ketuboth i. 2).

Deuteronomy 22:25-27

If, on the other hand, a man met a betrothed girl in the field, and laid hold of her and lay with her, the man alone was to die, and nothing was to be done to the girl. “ There is in the damsel no death-sin (i.e., no sin to be punished with death); but as when a man riseth against his neighbour and slayeth him, even so is this matter .” In the open field the girl had called for help, but no one had helped her. It was therefore a forcible rape.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

The last case: if a virgin was not betrothed, and a man seized her and lay with her, and they were found, i.e., discovered or convicted of their deed, the man was to pay the father of the girl fifty shekels of silver, for the reproach brought upon him and his house, and to marry the girl whom he had humbled, without ever being able to divorce her. This case is similar to the one mentioned in Exodus 22:15-16. The omission to mention the possibility of the father refusing to give him his daughter for a wife, makes no essential difference. It is assumed as self-evident here, that such a right was possessed by the father.


Verse 30

(or Deuteronomy 23:1) This verse, in which the prohibition of incest is renewed by a repetition of the first provision in the earlier law (Leviticus 18:7-8), is no doubt much better adapted to form the close of the laws of chastity and marriage, than the introduction to the laws which follow concerning the right of citizenship in the congregation of the Lord.